Gaza: Video Evidence Challenges Israel’s Account of Ambulance Killings

Footage captured from a dashboard camera reveals the final moments of 15 Palestinian rescuers killed by the IDF last month, seemingly contradicting claims that soldiers fired at vehicles moving suspiciously. The video documentation challenges Israel’s explanation for why troops opened fire on an ambulance convoy and a fire truck on March 23, resulting in the deaths of 15 rescue personnel. The video, released by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), shows the vehicles moving with their headlights on in the dark before being fired upon. PRCS stated that the footage was retrieved from the phone of a deceased paramedic, as reported by BBC. Initially, IDF denied that the vehicles had their lights or emergency signals on. However, in statements to the BBC, they emphasized that all claims, including circulating documents about the incident, would be thoroughly examined to understand the sequence of events and situation management. A survivor recently told the BBC that the ambulances had both interior and exterior lights on. The latest video, presented to the UN Security Council according to PRCS, displays marked vehicles stopping at the road’s edge with lights still flashing, and at least two emergency service workers exiting wearing reflective clothing. The vehicle’s windshield is shattered, followed by prolonged gunfire as the person filming recites prayers, believed to be one of the deceased paramedics. The video was found on his phone when his body was recovered from a mass grave a week after the incident. The bodies of eight paramedics, six Gaza Civil Defense workers, and a UN employee were found buried in the sand alongside the destroyed vehicles. It took days for international organizations to negotiate safe access to the site. Israel claimed that several Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters were killed in the incident but provided no evidence or further explanation regarding the threat to their forces. Earlier this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reiterated the army’s account, stating that ‘IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance.’ The IDF promised to investigate the circumstances after a surviving paramedic disputed their account.