Israeli Occupation Military Changes Initial
Account of Gaza Aid Worker Killings

Al-Quds, 6 Apr (ONA) — The Israeli
occupation military has provided new details that changed its initial account
of the killing of 15 emergency workers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah
last month, but said investigators were still examining the evidence.

The 15 paramedics and emergency
responders were shot dead on 23 March 2025 by Israeli occupation army and
buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by
officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Another man
is still missing.

The Israeli occupation military
initially said soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their
position “suspiciously” in the dark without lights or markings. It
said they killed nine militants from Hamas who were travelling in Palestinian
Red Crescent vehicles.

But video recovered from the mobile
phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent debunked
the whole account of the Israeli occupation army. The video showed emergency
workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with
their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.

The only known survivor of the
incident, Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic Munther Abed, also said he had
seen soldiers opening fire on clearly marked emergency response vehicles.

The U.N. and Palestinian Red
Crescent have demanded an independent inquiry into the killing of the
paramedics.

Red Crescent and U.N. officials have
said 17 paramedics and emergency workers from the Red Crescent, the Civil
Emergency service and the U.N. had been dispatched to respond to reports of
injuries from Israeli air strikes.

Apart from Abed, who was detained
for several hours before being released, another worker is still missing.

The U.N. said last week that
available information indicated one team was killed by Israeli forces and other
emergency and aid crews were killed one after another over several hours as
they searched for their missing colleagues.

The United Nations confirmed last
week that it had been informed of the location of the bodies but that access to
the area was denied by the Israeli occupation army for several days. It said
the bodies had been buried alongside their crushed vehicles – clearly marked
ambulances, a fire truck and a U.N. car.

— Ends/Khalid