IDF soldiers who killed Palestinian medics linked to 'kill-zone' general

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit involved in the killings of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in the Gaza Strip last month was under the command of a brigade led by a notorious Israeli general previously accused by some of his own troops of having "contempt for human life".

- Bethan McKernan

The IDF has confirmed that troops from Golani, one of the army's five infantry brigades, opened fire on two convoys of ambulances in Rafah on 23 March and dug a mass grave to cover the bodies of those killed until the corpses could be retrieved by a UN team six days later. It has disputed allegations from two witnesses who exhumed the bodies and newly released postmortem results that found several of those killed had close-range gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were discovered with their hands or legs tied.

Field operatives from Unit 504, a military intelligence unit with a reputation for cruelty and reckless behaviour, including torture, were also present during the attack, a senior military intelligence source with knowledge of recent IDF deployments in southern Gaza told the Guardian. The Israeli military declined to comment on whether 504 was involved.

During the Rafah attack, the Golani troops were under the command of the reservist armoured 14th Brigade. The 14th Brigade is part of a division led by Brig Gen Yehuda Vach, who former officers say designated an unofficial "kill zone" elsewhere in the strip that resulted in the arbitrary killings of Palestinian civilians. Soldiers also alleged Vach's "lack of operational discipline" endangered soldiers' lives. Vach has also told troops "there are no innocents in Gaza", according to an investigation by the Israeli daily Haaretz.