An Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian doctors last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said on Sunday that it had found “professional failures” and that an assistant commander would be dismissed.
Israel first said that doctors’ vehicles did not have emergency signals when the troops opened fire but then went back. The video of the mobile phone has recovered from one of the doctors contradicted the initial account of Israel.
The military investigation revealed that the assistant commander of the battalion, “due to poor night visibility,” assessed that ambulances belonged to Hamas activists. The video sequences obtained from the incident show that ambulances had flashing lights and visible logos when they stopped to help another ambulance that was criticized earlier. The teams do not seem to act unusually or threatening as three doctors emerge and go to him.
Their vehicles immediately fall under a gunfire that lasts more than five minutes with brief breaks.
The bodies were buried in a mass tomb
Eight staff of the Red Crescent, six civil defense workers and a member of UN staff were killed during the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops carrying out operations in Tel-Sultan, a district of the southern city of Gaza de Rafah. The troops bulldozer the bodies with their mutilated vehicles, buried them in a mass tomb. The UN and the rescuers could not reach the site until a week later to unearth the bodies.
Palestinian chief Red Crescent Society said that men were “intended closely”.
The Israeli military investigation said that the examination revealed “no evidence to support allegations of execution or that one of the deceased was bound before or after the shooting”.
He said the Palestinians had been killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces, and a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot a United Nations Palestinian vehicle was a violation of orders.
The deputy commander who will be dismissed was the first to open fire and the rest of the soldiers also started to shoot, said the investigation.
The conclusions said that six of the people killed were members of Hamas and said that some of the others were originally poorly identified as Hamas. The Israeli army initially declared that nine activists were activists. Civil defense is part of the government managed by Hamas.
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Israel accuses Hamas of having hidden fighters in ambulances
The investigation revealed that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong, but said that there was no attempt to hide the event. Major Gen Yoav Harveni, responsible for the soldiers’ investigation branch, said that bodies and vehicles had been removed from the road because the military wanted to use it for an evacuation path later during the day.
Har same said that soldiers informed international shooting organizations that day and helped them locate the bodies.
The declaration on the conclusions concluded by saying that the Israeli army “regrets the damage caused to undefined civilians”. The only survivor was detained for investigation and remains in detention for another interrogation.
The conclusions of the investigation were returned by the defender General General, who can decide to file a complaint. He is supposed to be an independent organization, with the surveillance of the Attorney General of Israel and the Supreme Court.
There are no external surveys on current murders.
Israel accused Hamas of having moved and hidden its fighters within ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civil infrastructure, arguing that it justifies strikes. Medical staff largely deny the accusations.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency stakeholders in the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them in service, as well as more than 1,000 health workers during the UN, the Israeli army rarely investigates such incidents.
Israel challenges the ICC accusations of war crimes
Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused the Israeli soldiers of not having investigated properly or to whiten the work lime of his troops.
Har same said that the Israeli army is currently investigating 421 incidents during the war, with 51 concluded and sent to the defender General Military. There was no immediate information on the number of surveys involving unjustified potential deaths or the number of times the MAG has brought criminal charges.
The International Criminal Court, established by the international community as a last appeal court, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Yoav Defense Minister Gallant of war crimes. Israel, who is not a member of the court, said that his legal system is capable of investigating the army for a long time and that Netanyahu accused the CPI of anti -Semitism.
The war in Gaza began when activists led by Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mainly civilians and removing 251. Most hostages were released in cease-fire agreements or other agreements. Hamas currently has 59 hostages, including 24 which would be alive.
Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The war has destroyed large parts of Gaza and most of its food production capacities. About 90% of the population is moved, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed buildings.
Frustration grew up on both sides, with rare public demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza and weekly gatherings continued in Israel by pressing the government to conclude an agreement to bring all hostages home.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
