IDF report 'full of lies', say Palestinian medics

The UN's humanitarian agency, the Palestinian Red Crescent and Gaza's civil defence service have rejected the findings of an Israeli military investigation concluding that the killings of 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers in Rafah last month were caused by "professional failures".

- Bethan McKernan

Eight Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics, six members of the civil defence rescue agency and one employee of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, were carrying out two rescue missions when they were shot and killed by Israeli troops on the same stretch of road in southern Gaza in the early hours of 23 March.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at first claimed that the medics' vehicles were not using emergency signals when troops opened fire, but back-tracked after mobile phone footage emerged contradicting the account.

On Sunday, it said an internal investigation had "identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident".

Gaza's civil defence agency, which rescues victims of airstrikes, dismissed the Israeli army report, accusing the military of lying in an attempt to justify targeting the rescue convoys.

"The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions," Mohammed Al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told Agence France-Presse yesterday, accusing Israel of seeking to "circumvent" its obligations under international law.

Jonathan Whittall, the UN's humanitarian chief for Gaza, said that the investigation had not gone far enough. "A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place," he said.