The Israeli army has launched particulars of an investigation into its personal killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and aid workers in Gaza final month, saying its code of ethics was not violated and just one soldier is dismissed, in an assault that sparked outrage within the worldwide group.
The Palestine Pink Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Israeli rights organisation Breaking the Silence rejected the findings of the Israeli probe on Sunday.
PRCS’s president advised Al-Araby TV that the Israeli narrative on the killings in Rafah was “contradictory”.
“It’s incomprehensible why the occupation troopers buried the our bodies of the paramedics in a legal method,” Younis al-Khatib mentioned.
Al-Khatib added that the Israeli military communicated with the paramedics earlier than killing them and that the proof – together with a video displaying their ambulances flashing emergency lights – proved “the falsity of the occupation’s narrative concerning the restricted visibility on the web site”.
“An impartial and neutral investigation should be performed by a UN physique,” he mentioned.
PRCS, which had medics killed by Israel within the incident, additionally denounced the Israeli report as “stuffed with lies” on Sunday. “It’s invalid and unacceptable, because it justifies the killing and shifts duty to a private error within the area command when the reality is sort of completely different,” Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the organisation, advised the AFP information company.
The PRCS mentioned final week that it obtained affirmation from the Worldwide Committee of the Pink Cross (ICRC) that considered one of its medics who was lacking is being held by Israel.
🚨Pressing: We’ve got been knowledgeable by the Worldwide Committee of the Pink Cross that PRCS medic Assad Al-Nsasrah is being held by the Israeli occupation authorities. His destiny had remained unknown since he was focused together with different PRCS medics in #Rafah.
📢We name on the… pic.twitter.com/l0oOxujS8G— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 13, 2025
The Israeli military on Sunday claimed that six of the help staff who had been killed and buried in a shallow mass grave together with their ambulances had been Hamas “terrorists”, with out offering any proof.
It admitted its probe detected a collection of “skilled failures”, together with partial and inaccurate reporting by the commanding officers within the area invading southern Gaza’s Rafah.
The deputy commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion shall be dismissed, whereas the commanding officer of the 14th Brigade is to obtain a reprimand.
The examination additionally discovered “no proof to assist claims of execution or that any of the deceased had been sure earlier than or after the capturing”, despite the testimonies and the evidence.
The Israeli army had initially claimed that the ambulances and support staff weren’t clearly marked as first responders and approached its troops “suspiciously”.
A cell phone video recorded by one of many killed support staff that was obtained by the New York Instances confirmed that the crew had been clearly marked and visual to Israeli forces, and had been killed by Israeli hearth that lasted a number of minutes.
United Nations and Palestinian officers later discovered the mass grave and the bulldozed ambulances and our bodies after Israeli authorities granted entry to the realm of the largely destroyed metropolis of Rafah bordering Egypt.
‘One other day, one other cover-up’
The Israeli anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence mentioned the army investigation is “riddled with contradictions, imprecise phrasing, and selective particulars”.
“Not each lie has a video to reveal it, however this report doesn’t even try to interact with the reality,” the group mentioned. “One other day, one other cover-up. Extra harmless lives taken, with no accountability.”
However far-right voices within the authorities of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imagine the military goes too far in punishing the troopers.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s ultranationalist nationwide safety minister, mentioned the choice to dismiss the deputy commander was a “grave mistake” that should be reversed.
“Our fight troopers, who’re sacrificing their lives in Gaza, deserve our full assist,” he mentioned.
‘Report invitations many questions’
Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Good advised Al Jazeera that the findings of the probe increase questions concerning the Israeli army’s conduct in Gaza and the thoroughness of the investigative course of.
“It’s a fairly stunning doc. It’s additionally a doc that invitations many questions that it is going to be troublesome, I think, for the [Israeli military] to reply,” Good mentioned in a tv interview.
“For instance, [there is] the proposition that six of those individuals had been Hamas, presumably members of Hamas on lively [military] service, not individuals who may need been related to Hamas ultimately. No documentary proof in any respect is recognized [for that].”
Israel has a observe file of denying accusations of wrongdoing and contradicting its personal earlier statements.
Previous investigations have exonerated the armed forces or positioned the blame on a single particular person with out broader repercussions.
The UN accused the Israeli army of being liable for the killing of the 15 support staff, together with the killing of a Bulgarian UN staff member and wounding of six different overseas employees in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah final month.
The organisation has been compelled to considerably minimize its employees in Gaza because the conflict’s loss of life toll continues to mount.
