The fire took place on March 23 in the morning of local time nearby Rafah. Israel's defensive forces (IDF) attacked the car with three Hamas members – one of them was killed and two were captured.
After a few hours next to the vehicle left, an ambulance convicted and the soldiers opened fire. 15 medics lost lifewhose bodies were buried in the sand and were discovered only after a week.
Now the Israeli side has reported in a statement that during the investigation in this matter, it was found that Procedural deficiencies occurred.
Middle East. Attack on medics near Rafah. Israel talks about “shortcomings”
“The study showed several errors professionalviolations of orders and no full incident report, “said the Israeli army.
It was further indicated that that day there were three cases of fire exchange – the first concerned the attack on the car, which was identified as belonging to Hamas, The next incidents concerned an attack on medics.
Firing in the first two cases “resulted from the operational misunderstanding of soldiers who believed that they were in the face of a tangible threat from enemy forces.” As added, the third incident was associated with violation of orders in combat conditions.
The IDF announcement mentioned that “Due to poor visibility, the deputy commander did not initially recognize vehicles as ambulances”. Only after approaching vehicles it was found that they were actually rescue teams.
15 rescuers were killed in an Israeli attack. The commander and his deputy are to bear the consequences
Israel's defense forces emphasized that 15 Palestinians were killed in the attack, And as it was assessed – without providing evidence – six of them were to be members of Hamas.
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli troops opened fire towards the Palestinian UN vehicle. In this case, the investigation showed that there were “operational errors violating the rules”.
The communiqué also mentioned that although the decision to bury bodies in the sand was justified, the destruction of the vehicles that the victims moved was a mistake.
The commander who gave orders is to be punished with a reprimand for “responsibility for the incident”. In turn, his deputy is to be released, among others due to the submission of a “incomplete and inaccurate report”.
The Reuters agency emphasizes that the recording from the event, which was published by the Palestinian Red Crescent shows that The vehicles were clearly marked as belonging to emergency services, and employees were properly dressed.
Sources: Reuters, Interia