The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has called for an independent international inquiry into Israel’s killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza.
The organisation released the full video found on the phone of one of its eight paramedics who died when troops fired at a convoy of ambulances on 23 March, which it said constituted a “fully fledged war crime”.
It called on those responsible to be held to account.
Israel’s military said on Monday that a preliminary inquiry indicated troops “opened fire due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area, and that six of the individuals killed in the incident were identified as Hamas terrorists”, without giving evidence.
A Red Crescent paramedic who survived has denied his colleagues were linked with any armed groups.
The Israeli military initially said its troops fired on “suspicious vehicles” driving with their lights off.
On Saturday, it admitted that initial version of events was “mistaken” after the last part of the paramedic’s video was released showing the convoy was using its emergency lights.
The bodies of the eight Red Crescent paramedics, six Civil Defence first responders and one UN staff member were recovered from a shallow grave a week after their deaths, once the UN was able to obtain safe passage to the area.
The 18-minute video released on Monday was filmed by paramedic Rifaat Radwan.
At the start of the footage, he can be heard talking with his colleague Asaad al-Nassasra – whose fate remains unknown – as their ambulance drives along an unlit road at night-time.
A second ambulance then approaches from the other direction, and Radwan and Nassasra decide to travel with them in a convoy following a conversation with its driver.
Later, a fire engine and a third ambulance – all with their flashing emergency lights clearly visible – are seen overtaking Radwan’s vehicle shortly before they reach a van on the roadside.
The emergency vehicles pull over and the sound of gunfire begins just as Radwan gets out. It continues for more than five minutes and Radwan is heard saying his last prayers, before the voices of Israeli soldiers are heard approaching.
The Red Crescent said on Wednesday that the video showed “this was neither a random incident nor an individual error, but rather a series of deliberate attacks”.
“The first was the shooting of an ambulance en route to evacuate casualties after a home was bombed in the al-Hashashin area.”
“This was followed by a direct attack on the PRCS and Civil Defence ambulance convoy – despite the team following all safety protocols – and then by the targeting of a fourth ambulance that was heading to support the others,” it added.
The society insisted the area had not been classified by the Israeli military as a “red zone”, which meant no prior co-ordination was required to access the site, and that the video showed that Israeli military vehicles had not been visible in the area.
It also said preliminary forensic reports showed that the medics were killed by “multiple gunshot wounds to the upper parts of the bodies”, which it described as “further evidence of deliberate killing”.
At a news conference in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the society’s president Dr Younes al-Khatib called for an independent international investigation into the incident and for those responsible to be held accountable.
“We’ll pursue this issue until the end. For us, these 15 men represent all those who were killed for the sake of saving lives, for the sake of humanity,” he said.
“And justice was not brought to them. We hope this time and through these 15 men, we can bring justice.”
Khatib dismissed the Israeli military’s inquiry, saying the society did not “trust” it to provide all the answers about what happened due to “previous experience”.
He also rejected the military’s accusation that Hamas operatives were among those killed, saying it had failed “to prove even once in 50 years that the Red Crescent or its crew carry or use weapons”.
Later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that its Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, had been presented with the findings of the initial inquiry into the incident and instructed that it be “pursued in greater depth and completed in the coming days by the general staff investigation mechanism”.
“All the claims raised regarding the incident will be examined through the mechanism and presented in a detailed and thorough manner for a decision on how to handle the event,” it added.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 50,750 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
