Israeli forces have acknowledged the flaw in their initial statement of involvement in the military's killings last month of 15 people in South Gaza, which the United Nations said were all paramedics and rescue workers.
The entry came on Saturday the day after the video obtained by the New York Times appeared to contradict a key part of the event in previous versions of the military. The military said it fired on the vehicle after “advancing suspiciously,” but the video clearly showed ambulances and fire engines.
This episode elicited international scrutiny and condemnation. After the blatant contradictions in Israeli accounts became apparent, the military appeared to be moving faster than usual to deal with the issue. An internal military investigation into a questionable, deadly episode could be dragged over months, or even years.
Here's what we know so far:
Israeli military version
In the first statement after the bodies were found, the troops alleged that the troops fired as the convoy approached them in the dark “without headlights or emergency signals.”
However, the video shows ambulances and fire trucks were lit emergency lights as Israeli forces unleashed the barrage.
The military now says that the initial explanation from the ground forces was “incorrectly.”
Military officials previously claimed that nine of the people killed were Hamas or Islamic jihad operatives. They named only one of the nine and did not provide evidence of their claims.
Military officials on Saturday, who explained to reporters about the initial findings of the internal investigation, said at least six of the 15 were Hamas operatives, but have yet to provide evidence. The official spoke about the terms of anonymity under Army rules.
Before meeting the emergency vehicle, officials said they were roaming along the road north of Rafa, the city of Gazan before dawn on March 23rd.
Two hours later, as dawn was broken, the emergency convoy approached the same location. When rescuers began to leave the vehicle, the Israeli forces said they believed they were Hamas operatives heading towards them and fired from afar.
Amos Harel, a military analyst for the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz, said in an interview that soldiers are “a good reason to be uneasy” and that it is wrong to immediately assume that Hamas fighters are one of the “cold blooded murders” that frequently use civilian infrastructure as cover.
But the episode raises questions, Harrell said about the version of the event they reported from the ground and the events they reported from the ground.
Military authorities denied reports that some bodies were found to have been detained and shot dead at close range. He said the troops buried the bodies to protect them from wildlife, and used heavy machinery to move the disabled cars off the road and mangled them.
What the aid group says
A representative from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said last week that an ambulance departed to evacuate Palestinian civilians injured in Israeli artillery fire around 3:30am on March 23.
Red Crescent said the ambulance and its crew will be attacked by Israeli forces, and over several more ambulances and fire trucks will head to the scene to rescue them over the course of several more hours. The UN was sent, the UN said.
Seventeen people were dispatched in total, of which 10 were Red Crescent, six were emergency responders of Gaza's civil defense services, and one was a UN worker.
It took me a few days to negotiate access and get 15 bodies. Red Crescent said one Medic was still missing and was taken into custody by Israeli forces and later released.
Red Crescent said it had called for an investigation, saying “targeting” Israeli medics should be “considered a war crime.” He added that the latest killings resulted in the number of members killed during the war that began on October 7, 2023.
On Friday, Dr. Yunis Al-Kativ, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Association, told reporters that emergency workers were “targeted from a very close range,” based on autopsy and forensic evidence.
Previous reactions in Israel
The incident has received more extensive coverage in Israel since the video was exposed. Politicians are mostly silent and will likely be waiting for the military to complete its investigation.
Military analyst Harrell said the investigation was the first test of Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the recently established military chief of staff, on the military's international position.
And the bigger issue of accountability remains. Israeli human rights group Yesh Dinh discovered last year that out of 573 suspected war crimes in Gaza, 573 cases considered by the Army over the past decade, led to prosecutors.
Gabby Sobelman contributed to a report from Rehovot, Israel.
