Egypt Daily News – The Israeli army has admitted to making mistakes regarding the killing of 15 emergency responders in southern Gaza on March 23, 2025, acknowledging that its previous account of the incident was inaccurate.
On the evening of Saturday, April 5, an Israeli military official explained that earlier reports stated that soldiers had opened fire on a vehicle carrying three members of Hamas. When ambulances arrived at the scene, aerial surveillance personnel informed the soldiers that the convoy was “approaching suspiciously.” The soldiers, assuming they were under threat, opened fire, despite there being no evidence that any emergency responder was armed.
The official also clarified that previous reports claiming the ambulances approached without their lights on were incorrect, attributing the error to the relevant parties involved in the initial report.
The incident took place in the Tel Sultan area before dawn on March 23, when a convoy of Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances, a United Nations vehicle, and a Gaza civil defense fire truck came under gunfire. Israel initially justified the attack, claiming that the convoy had approached suspiciously in the dark without headlights or illuminated lights, and that its movement had not been coordinated with the army.
However, mobile phone footage later released by The New York Times showed that the ambulances had clear markings and emergency lights on when they were fired upon.
The Israeli army has since revised its account, providing new details but confirming that investigators are still examining the evidence. The 15 emergency workers, including paramedics, were killed by gunfire and buried in a shallow mass grave. A week later, United Nations and Palestinian Red Crescent officials discovered their bodies, though one person remains missing.
The Palestinian Red Crescent released mobile phone footage showing that the paramedics were wearing their distinctive uniforms and traveling in ambulances and fire trucks with clear logos and emergency lights when they were shot at by soldiers. Mundhir Abed, the sole survivor of the incident, confirmed that soldiers opened fire on vehicles with clear markings.
In response, an Israeli military official confirmed that investigators are reviewing the video footage, with findings expected to be presented to army leadership on Sunday. The official noted that the initial field report did not mention the emergency lights, and investigators are now examining “operational information” to determine whether the error was made by the person who prepared the first report.
The United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent have called for an independent investigation into the killings. Red Crescent officials stated that 17 paramedics and emergency workers, including from the UN and civil defense, were dispatched to the area based on reports of casualties from Israeli airstrikes.
Besides Abed, who was detained for several hours before being released, one individual is still missing. The United Nations has since reported that available information suggests that Israeli forces killed one member of the team, and others were killed one by one over several hours while searching for their missing colleagues.
