In its initial narrative, the Israeli military acknowledged its initial statement of its forces’ involvement in the killing of 15 people in southern Gaza last month, which the United Nations said was a paramedic and rescue worker.
The admission comes the second day on Saturday, a video obtained by The New York Times that appears to contradict key parts of the military's earlier version of the campaign. While the military opened fire on the vehicle after “suspiciously ahead of schedule”, the video showed obvious ambulance and a fire truck.
The episode was subject to international censorship and condemnation. After revealing a blatant inconsistency in Israel’s accounts, the military appears to move faster than usual to resolve the issue. Internal military inquiries about suspicious fatal plots can delay months or even years.
Here is what we know so far:
The Israeli military version
In the initial statement after the body was found, the military insisted that its troops open fire as they sailed towards them in the darkness of “no headlights or emergency signals.”
However, the video was found on the cell phone of a healthcare worker found in a massive grave, indicating that ambulances and fire trucks encountered emergency lights as Israeli forces released barrage.
The military now says that the initial description of ground forces is “wrong”.
Military officials have previously asserted that nine of the killing agents were Hamas or Islamic jihadist agents. They only named nine and provided no evidence of any request.
On Saturday, a military official who introduced the results of an internal investigation to reporters said at least six of the 15 were Hamas agents, but no evidence was provided. Officials spoke under anonymous conditions under Army rules.
The official said the reserves of the Infantry Brigade had been lying before 4 a.m. on March 23, along a road in the northern part of the Gaza city of Rafa, the official said.
Two hours later, as dawn broke down, the emergency convoy approached the same position. When rescuers began to leave the vehicle, Israeli forces believed they were Hamas agents and headed to fire in the distance.
Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst at the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz, said in an interview that the soldiers had “good reasons to feel anxious” and that it was wrong to immediately assume that the case was one of the “cold-blooded murders” and that it was wrong to cover the Hamas fighters’ frequent use of civilian infrastructure.
However, Mr Harrell said the incident raised problems, namely the behavior of soldiers and the version of the incident they reported from the ground.
Military officials denied reports that some bodies were found and shot at close range. He said the troops had buried the bodies to protect them from wildlife and used heavy equipment to remove disabled vehicles from the road and mess them up.
What does the aid team say
Representatives of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said last week that ambulances evacuated Israeli shelled injured Palestinian civilians around 3:30 a.m. on March 23.
The Red Moon Society said an ambulance and its crew were attacked by Israeli forces and more ambulances and a fire truck were headed to the scene in the next few hours to rescue them. The United Nations also sent UN vehicles.
A total of 17 people were sent, including 10 Red Crescent workers, and 6 were emergency responders to Gaza Civil Defense Services, and 1 was a United Nations worker.
It took several days to retrieve 15 bodies on a negotiation visit. The Red Crescent said a doctor was still missing and Munther Abed was detained by Israeli troops and later released.
The Red Crescent Society said Israel’s “targets” for medical staff should be “deemed as war crimes” and asked for an investigation. It added that the latest killings brought 27 members killed during the war, which began on October 7, 2023 with the deadly Hamas leadership.
On Friday, Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, told reporters that based on autopsy and forensic evidence, emergency workers “come from a very close range.”
Israel's reaction so far
Since the video has been exposed, the case has received wider coverage in Israel. Politicians mostly remain silent, perhaps waiting for the military to complete their inquiries.
Military Affairs analyst Mr Harel said the investigation was the first test of the military's international status by recently installed Chief of Military Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
There are even bigger accountability issues. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din found last year that 573 suspected war crimes have been reviewed in Gaza over the past decade, with only one leading to prosecution.
Gabby Sobelman Rehovot from Israel contributed the report.
