The Israeli navy has stated “skilled failures” led to the killing of 15 emergency staff in Gaza final month.
An inquiry into the incident by the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) discovered a collection of failings, together with an “operational misunderstanding” and a “breach of orders”.
The deputy commander of the unit concerned has been dismissed “for offering an incomplete and inaccurate report through the debrief”.
A spokeswoman for the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society (PRCS) stated the report was “invalid” because it “justifies and shifts the accountability to a private error within the subject command when the reality is sort of totally different”.
Fourteen emergency staff and a UN employee have been killed on 23 March after a convoy of PRCS ambulances, a UN automotive and a hearth truck got here below fireplace by the Israeli navy.
In a press release, the IDF stated its troops opened fireplace believing they have been going through a menace from enemy forces.
The IDF stated its investigation discovered six of the casualties have been Hamas members, and rejected that there had been abstract executions.
In an on-the-record briefing, Main Common Yoav Har-Even – who investigated the incident – informed journalists that the Israeli navy maintained that six of the emergency staff have been Hamas operatives and stated they might later be named.
The report stated the incident came about in what it known as a “hostile and harmful fight zone”, and that the commander on the bottom perceived an instantaneous and tangible menace after automobiles approached quickly.
It blamed “poor night time visibility”, which the IDF stated meant the commander didn’t establish the automobiles as ambulances.
One other commanding officer “will obtain a reprimand” for “his total accountability for the incident”, the report added.
Israel had initially claimed troops opened fireplace as a result of the convoy approached “suspiciously” in darkness with out headlights or flashing lights. It stated motion of the automobiles had not been beforehand co-ordinated or agreed with the military.
Nevertheless it later stated that account was “mistaken” after a video discovered on the cell phone of a medic who was killed confirmed the automobiles with their lights on and their emergency indicators flashing.
The footage reveals the automobiles pulling up on the street when capturing begins simply earlier than daybreak.
The video continues for greater than 5 minutes, with the paramedic saying his final prayers earlier than the voices of Israeli troopers are heard approaching the automobiles.
It additionally reveals the automobiles have been clearly marked and the paramedics carrying reflective hi-vis uniform.
The our bodies of the 15 lifeless staff have been buried in sand. They weren’t uncovered till per week after the incident as a result of worldwide companies, together with the UN, couldn’t organise protected passage to the realm or find the spot.
The IDF additionally confirmed it was holding a PRCS medic it had detained following the incident. They didn’t verify his identify, however the Worldwide Committee of the Crimson Cross has beforehand named him as Assad al-Nassasra.
The Crimson Crescent and several other different worldwide organisations have beforehand known as for an impartial investigation into the incident.
The IDF’s resolution to fireside a commander and self-discipline one other senior officer isn’t exceptional – the navy dismissed two officers and took motion in opposition to others after seven assist staff from the World Central Kitchen have been killed in April of final 12 months.
Israel launched its first main operation in Rafah in Might 2024, leaving massive components of it in ruins. Tens of hundreds of individuals returned to what was left of their properties within the metropolis throughout a latest two-month-long ceasefire.
Israel renewed its offensive in Gaza on 18 March after the primary section of the ceasefire deal got here to an finish and negotiations on a second section of the deal stalled.
Israel launched its marketing campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, by which about 1,200 individuals have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
At the very least 51,201 individuals have been killed in Gaza since then, based on the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
