Israeli probe into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza finds ‘professional failures’

JERUSALEM AP An Israeli inquiry into the killings of Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces reported Sunday it uncovered professional failures and a deputy commander will be fired Israel at first claimed that the medics vehicles did not have crisis signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked Cellphone video recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel s initial account The military probe discovered that the deputy battalion commander due to poor night visibility assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants Video footage obtained from the affair shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward it Their vehicles right now come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses Bodies were buried in a mass grave Eight Red Crescent personnel six Civil Defense workers and a U N staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles burying them in a mass grave U N and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has explained the men were targeted at close range The Israeli military probe reported the examination revealed no evidence to help contends of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting It stated the Palestinians were killed due to an operational misunderstanding by Israeli forces and that a separate situation minutes later when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian U N wagon was a breach of orders The deputy commander who will be dismissed was the first to open fire and the rest of the soldiers also started shooting the scrutiny revealed The findings asserted that six of those killed were Hamas members and noted specific of the others were originally misidentified as Hamas Israel s military initially disclosed nine were militants The Civil Defense is part of the Hamas-run leadership Israel accuses Hamas of hiding fighters in ambulances The study discovered that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but declared there was no attempt to conceal the event Maj Gen Yoav Har-Even in charge of the military s investigative branch disclosed the bodies and vehicles were removed from the road because the military longed to use it for an evacuation road later that day Har-Even reported the military notified international organizations about the shooting that day and helped them locate the bodies The announcement on the findings concluded by saying that Israel s military regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians The one survivor was detained for scrutiny and remains in custody for further questioning The probe s findings have been turned over the Military Advocate General which can decide whether to file charges It is meant to be an independent body with oversight by Israel s attorney general and Supreme Court There are no outside investigations of the killings underway Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and urgency vehicles as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure arguing that justifies strikes on them Healthcare personnel largely deny the accusations Israeli strikes have killed more than urgency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense the bulk of them while on duty as well as over fitness workers during the war according to the U N The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents Israel disputes ICC accusations of war crimes Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel s military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops Har-Even stated the Israeli military is at present probing incidents during the war with concluded and sent to the Military Advocate General There was no immediate information on the number of investigations involving prospective wrongful deaths or how a great number of times the MAG has pursued criminal charges The International Criminal Court established by the international area as a court of last resort has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes Israel which is not a member of the court has long asserted that its legal system is capable of scrutinizing the army and Netanyahu has accused the ICC of antisemitism The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct killing about people mostly civilians and abducting Greater part of the hostages have been issued in ceasefire agreements or other deals Hamas at this time holds hostages of them held to be alive Israel s offensive has since killed over Palestinians mostly women and children according to Gaza s Strength Ministry which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and bulk of its food production capabilities Around of the population is displaced with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings Frustration has been growing on both sides with rare population protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the governing body to reach a deal to bring all hostages home Follow coverage of the war at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war Source