Israel admits that an explanation of killed care providers in Gaza was ‘partly incorrect’ after video of one of the victims

Yes, they were visible as aid workers. And no, that does not matter: Israel should not have taken them to them, according to international law. But this weekend the excuse has also been disproved that the fifteen Palestinian rescue workers who were shot by Israel on Sunday 23 March at Rafah, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip, had not been recognizable as such.

Saturday morning published The New York Times A video that was made by one of the victims, a paramedic. This shows that it was a convoy of two ambulances and a fire truck, with headlights and flashing lights on. An official of the Israeli army admitted on Saturday evening that earlier Israeli reporting on the killed care providers was ‘partly incorrect’.

The video also sheds more light on the circumstances around their death. When the convoy sees an ambulance on the side of the road, two people get out to take a closer look. At that time they are shot. The image stops, but the sound continues.

The convoy is under gunfire for five minutes. The paramedic who filmed, repeats the shadaa prayer that Muslims cancel when they look forward to death. The body of the paramedic was later found in a grave with a bullet in the head.

The initial explanation

The Israeli official did not explain what exactly was incorrect about the initial explanation of the events. That explanation was two -fold: first there would have been shot because the vehicles were invisible and would have moved suspiciously. After an initial investigation, according to the Israeli army, it was established that some of the ‘suspicious’ vehicles were ambulances and fire trucks.

According to Israel, nine of the fifteen victims heard at Hamas, although it did not say which nine they are; All fifteen names are known. Opposite The Times of Israel convicted person an army spokesperson The « repeated use » by « terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip of ambulances for terrorist purposes. »

Political scientist Nicola Perugini of the University of Edinburgh, author of the book Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire,,  » points to X That the Israeli reaction contradicted itself: « If you accuse the enemy of using an ambulance as a cover, the assumption that the enemy hides behind something that is clearly recognizable as protected. It makes no sense to hide behind an unarmed vehicle. »

Critics point to a pattern of Israeli denials when shooting Palestinians. One of the best known examples is the death of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022 on the western Jordoever. As she reported on an Israeli raid in a Palestinian refugee camp, she was shot in her head. At the time, Israeli officials said in a first reaction that it had been a Palestinian bullet; Later the shooter turned out to be an Israeli soldier.

Crypt

Soon after the discovery of the bodies, experts pointed out that the visibility of the care providers was not relevant to whether it is a war crime. Like this said the Rotterdam professor of humanitarian studies Thea Hilhorst NRC« According to international humanitarian law, it is crystal clear that you are not allowed to shoot at care providers. There are grounds for exception, but then you still have to act cautious, transparent and proportionally. It is therefore up to Israel to prove irrefutably that it was actually about fighters and that there was no other way to eliminate them. »

The death of the care providers was convicted worldwide, among others by Dutch Minister Reinette Klever (Foreign Trade and Development Aid, PVV). Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, says in a response that the event evokes « further concerns » « about committing war crimes by the Israeli army. »

Eight of the fifteen victims worked for the Palestinian red crescent. It was the deadliest attack on employees of the Red Cross and the Red Half Moon since 2017.

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