Israeli troops opened fire on ambulances because of 'perceived threat', IDF investigation finds

7 April 2025, 19:44 | Updated: 7 April 2025, 21:16

The IDF has said Israeli troops opened fire on unarmed medics and aid workers - in an incident in which 15 people - were killed due to a "perceived threat".

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a UN worker 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.

They said the preliminary inquiry found that the threat was due to a "previous encounter in the area, and that six of the individuals killed in the incident were identified as Hamas terrorists."

In a post to social media, the IDF said: "Today (Monday), the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir, completed a preliminary inquiry into the shooting incident on March 23 in the Tel al-Sultan area.

"The inquiry was presented by the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command, MG Yaniv Asor.

"The Chief of the General Staff instructed that the inquiry be pursued in greater depth and completed in the coming days by the General Staff Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, headed by MG (res.) Yoav Har-Even.

"Once the mechanism's inquiry is completed, its conclusions will be presented to the Chief of the General Staff.

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"The IDF is conducting an inquiry into the incident, which took place in a combat zone, to uncover the truth.

"The preliminary inquiry indicated that the troops opened fire due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area, and that six of the individuals killed in the incident were identified as Hamas terrorists.

"All the claims raised regarding the incident will be examined through the mechanism and presented in a detailed and thorough manner for a decision on how to handle the event."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society's vice president, Marwan Jilani, said the phone with the footage was found in the pocket of one of its workers who died at the scene.

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations distributed the video to the UN Security Council.

The Associated Press obtained the video from a UN diplomat.

One paramedic who survived, Munzer Abed, confirmed the veracity of the video to the AP.

A few days ago, video footage has now emerged showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicles' lights flashing, with the logos visible, as they pulled up to help an ambulance that had come under fire earlier.

The IDF said in a statement today: "The IDF acknowledges that its statement claiming that the ambulances had their lights off, was incorrect, and was based on the testimony from the soldiers in the incident."

Video footage published by The New York Times today showed that the ambulances were clearly identifiable and had their lights on.

"The investigation is looking into this discrepancy.

"The IDF has also found that at least six of the 15 slain medics were immediately identified by intelligence officials as Hamas operatives."