The Israel Defense Forces has fired a deputy commander and censured a military chief after an internal investigation revealed a series of “professional errors” that resulted in the killing of 15 aid workers in southern Gaza.
The IDF dismissed the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit on Sunday after his forces opened fire on a convoy of ambulances traveling in Rafah on March 23, according to the military’s report.
The officer’s dismissal was also spurred by his “partial and inaccurate” report of the incident, which led to international condemnation after the humanitarian workers and medics were found buried in a shallow grave along with their vehicles, according to the report.
“The IDF regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The examination process also serves as part of an ongoing effort to learn from operational incidents and reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future.”
After the bodies were recovered by the UN and Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on March 31, the IDF claimed its soldiers opened fire on the emergency vehicles because they had their lights off and were approaching the soldiers in the dark.
Video of the incident, however, showed that the vehicles were clearly marked as ambulances and had their lights flaring when the IDF fired at them, forcing the Israeli military to change its account.
The IDF now claims the troops opened fire “after perceiving an immediate and tangible threat,” noting that Rafah is an active warzone and that Hamas is known to use civilians as human shields.
After shooting the ambulances and emergency vehicles, the troops also fired at a United Nations car due to “operation errors,” the report added.
Along with firing the field officer, the IDF also elected to censure the commander of the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade, which was leading the operation in Rafah when the aid workers were killed.
Despite finding “several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident,” the IDF defended the troops operating in Gaza and refuted allegations that there was an attempt to conceal the killings, as per the report.
The UN and PRCS had accused the IDF of refusing to let them get to the burial site following the aid workers’ disappearance, with the Israeli military now admitting it “was wrong” for the soldiers to bury the bodies and ambulances.
The dead include eight Red Crescent workers, six members of the Gaza Civil Defense emergency unit, and a staffer from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), according to officials from all three groups.
The report claims six out of the victims have been identified as Hamas members without providing evidence.
The Israeli military did not say if anyone would face criminal charges over the incident.
