On Sunday, the Israeli army admitted failure to inform the killing of healthcare professionals in the Gaza Strip, the deputy commander of the military unit will be released. The army during the investigation into the March killing of 15 rescuers and humanitarian workers from the Red Crescent, the Palestinian civil defense and the UN did not find signs of execution. He claims that six militants of the Palestinian Hamas movement died in the attack and expressed regret over the damage caused to the civilian. According to AFP and AP reports, TASR reports this.
The incident occurred on March 23, just a few days after Israel resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip after almost two months of ceasefires.
“The review has revealed several professional failures, orders of orders and incomplete incident report,” the army said in a summary of the investigation. The military investigation showed that the Deputy Commander of the Battalion “due to poor night visibility” concluded that ambulances belong to militants of Hamas. According to the army, this military representative will be dismissed from office “because of his responsibility as a commander in the field … and also for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the subsequent evaluation”.
The victims were also to be militants
The army also declared that there were six Hamas militants among 15 victims. “The Israeli army regrets the damage caused by the civilian,” she added.
According to the army’s statement, the soldiers did not engage in the shooting blindly, but remained alert to respond to the real threats they themselves identified. ” She added that the investigation of the incident did not find any evidence supporting the claims of executions. The investigation also refuted the claims that the healthcare professionals were before or after killing, writes AP.
This month, the Humanitarian Coordination Office (Ocha) reported that the first team of rescuers killed the Israeli troops on March 23, and then the other teams intervened one by one when they were looking for their missing colleagues. April 1, April 1, announced that the bodies of 15 healthcare professionals discovered buried in the mass grave in the sand in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Israel has receded since the initial claims
Israel initially claimed that medical vehicles had no emergency signals when the soldiers started fire. As AP writes, Israel later withdrew from this claim. There was a video from the phone of one of the health professionals on the Internet, which was contrary to the original Israeli version of shooting. The video of the incident shows that ambulances had flashing lights and visible logos when they stopped to help another ambulance that had previously got under fire. The vehicles of health professionals immediately came under fire, which, according to AP with short breaks lasted more than five minutes.
The representative of the Red Crescent claims that the Israeli forces attacked from the immediate vicinity.
