Gaza medic death report contains lies, humanitarian group says
The humanitarian organisation, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has said that a report from the Israeli military on the brutal killing of its paramedics is untruthful, the BBC reported on April 21st.
According to Sky News on April 21st, the Israeli military launched an investigation into the killing of aid workers. The investigation reportedly found “several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident.”
The UN’s humanitarian leader in Gaza claimed the initial investigation was insufficient. Jonathan Whittall said: “A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place.” He added: “Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all, eroding.”
A spokeswoman from the PRCS has called the report invalid, claiming it “justifies and shifts the responsibility to a personal error in the field command.” She claims the reality of the matter “is quite different.”
On March 23rd, the Israeli military admitted to the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza. Israel’s military dismissed the deputy commander from the unit involved in the incident.
PRCS’s president Younis Al-Khatib told Al-Araby TV that the Israeli account of the Rafah killings was “contradictory,” AL Jazeera reported on April 20th.
The Israeli military had first said that the ambulances and aid workers did not clearly mark themselves as first responders. They further argued they approached its officers “suspiciously.”
The military’s investigation found that “poor night visibility” caused the deputy commander to not realise that the vehicles were ambulances. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later stated that the account was “mistaken.”
A video from a medic’s mobile phone revealed the vehicles had their lights on and their emergency signals were flashing. The footage also showed the vehicles were clearly labelled, and that all paramedics wore reflective hi-vis clothes.
Al-Khatib also added that the Israeli army talked with the paramedics before killing them. He emphasized that the video evidence pointed towards “the falsity of the occupation’s narrative regarding the limited visibility.”
Al Jazeera, BBC, Sky News
