Newly emerged video footage appears to contradict the Israeli military’s previous statements about two groups of medical workers that it ambushed and killed in Gaza last month.
Two separate emergency teams were dispatched on March 23 to retrieve casualties after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an offensive into the Tel al-Sultan district of the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
The first emergency team was dispatched at about noon, and a second was sent later in the evening to investigate after the first team disappeared and was not heard from.
That second team also disappeared, and aid workers were not allowed near the area by the IDF for another five days. On March 30, the bodies of 15 aid workers and their four vehicles were recovered in a mass grave that appeared to have been created by an Israeli bulldozer.
Those killed included eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers, and a U.N. staffer.
The IDF has opened an investigation into the incident. It originally stated that the events were sparked when Israeli troops were approached by Hamas terrorists traveling in aid vans without lights under the cover of darkness.
Video footage from a cell phone found on one of the bodies of the aid workers appears to contradict that account.
The new phone footage, which was released by the Red Crescent on April 4, shows the rescue convoy of Red Crescent and Civil Defense vehicles that was sent out after contact was lost with the first ambulance.
The video was recorded by one of the aid workers from behind the dashboard of one of the vehicles later found in the mass grave. It shows several ambulances and a fire truck moving down a road through a barren area in the darkness, all flashing their emergency lights the entire time.
The convoy arrived at the scene of another ambulance, which appeared to have come under attack earlier in the day. The aid workers, dressed in orange and reflective clothing and with their emergency vehicle lights still on, began to get out to inspect the scene. No Israeli troops were visible.
At that point, a shot rang out, and one of the men appeared to fall. Gunfire then erupted and continued on for several minutes as men were heard screaming and calling for help. The camera view became obstructed, and the man filming can be heard praying until abruptly being cut short.
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 slain staffers at the scene. The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations has distributed the video footage to the U.N. Security Council.
The IDF stated that after the shooting, its troops determined they had killed a Hamas figure named Mohammed Amin Shobaki and eight other terrorists. None of the 15 medics whose bodies were recovered went by that name.
The IDF has since stated that it is examining the incident, including all new documentation in circulation.
“All claims, including the documentation circulating about the incident, will be thoroughly and deeply examined to understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation,” an IDF spokesperson said.
Jonathan Whittall, the interim humanitarian affairs chief for Gaza, said Israeli claims that the aid workers were Hamas terrorists were unfounded.
“These are paramedic crews that I personally have met before,” he said. “They were buried in their uniforms with their gloves on. They were ready to save lives.”
