Israel’s military has admitted that its soldiers made errors in judgement leading to the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza on 23 March, following the emergence of mobile phone footage contradicting initial claims made by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
The convoy—comprising Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances, a UN vehicle, and a Gaza Civil Defence fire truck—came under fire near Rafah while responding to calls to assist the wounded. The IDF had initially asserted that the convoy approached “suspiciously” in darkness without headlights or warning signals and that its movement had not been coordinated.
However, a video filmed by one of the slain paramedics, Refat Radwan, and later obtained by the New York Times, showed that the vehicles were clearly marked and had their lights on. The footage captured the moment Israeli soldiers opened fire, with Radwan heard reciting prayers before the gunfire began and soldiers’ voices later heard approaching the vehicles.
Although the IDF maintains that at least six of the medics were associated with Hamas, it has provided no evidence to support this claim and admits the victims were unarmed. An Israeli official briefing journalists stated that troops had earlier fired on a separate vehicle carrying Hamas operatives. When the medical convoy arrived and stopped near the vehicle, the soldiers reportedly felt threatened and opened fire.
The IDF also retracted its earlier assertion that the ambulances had no lights, blaming the inaccurate report on battlefield confusion. According to the military, the bodies of the dead were buried in sand to prevent scavenging by animals, with the vehicles moved the next day to clear the road.
The site remained inaccessible for days due to the volatile security situation, only being discovered a week later by aid workers, who recovered Radwan’s mobile phone containing the crucial footage.
Dismissing reports that the medics were executed or handcuffed, the Israeli military has pledged a thorough internal review “to understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation.”
Calls for an independent investigation have been made by the Red Crescent and several international organisations.
Israel resumed its air and ground operations in Gaza on 18 March, following the collapse of ceasefire negotiations. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since that date, bringing the total death toll since the war began in October 2023 to more than 50,600.
The conflict began after Hamas launched a deadly cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, prompting Israel’s military campaign to dismantle the group’s infrastructure in Gaza.
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