THE Israeli military's investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month has been branded "full of lies" by humanitarian agencies.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS), Gaza's civil defence service, and the UN's humanitarian agency have rejected the findings of the report which concluded the deaths were caused by "professional failures".
Eight PCRS personnel, six civil defence workers and a UN staff member were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by Israeli troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave.
UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.
Israel initially claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire.
It also claimed, without evidence, that nine of those killed were Hamas militants.
However, video emerged showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with lights flashing and logos visible, as they pulled up to help another ambulance that had earlier come under fire.
Israel has now said that a deputy commander of the Golani Brigade will be fired, and claimed the military investigation found the commander, “due to poor night visibility”, assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants.
The report has been rejected by humanitarian agencies, with the PCRS saying it was "full of lies".
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PRCS, said: “The report is full of lies. It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.”
The PRCS has previously called for an international investigation into the incident.
Gaza’s civil defence agency, which rescues victims of airstrikes, dismissed the Israeli army report, accusing the military of lying in an attempt to justify targeting the rescue convoys.
“The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation’s narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,” Mohammed al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told Agence-France Presse on Monday, accusing Israel of seeking to “circumvent” its obligations under international law.
Jonathan Whittall, the UN’s humanitarian chief for Gaza, said the investigation did not go far enough.
“A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place,” he said.
“Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all eroding.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of medical workers and the staff of aid agencies and UN organisations in Gaza.
In April last year, seven members of the charity World Central Kitchen were killed in a sustained Israeli attack on their clearly marked vehicles.
Human rights organisations have long accused the Israeli military of a culture of impunity, with few soldiers ever facing justice.
In 2023, fewer than 1% of complaints made against Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories ended in a conviction, according to the latest US state department annual human rights report.
