Israel military says killing of Gaza medics was 'mistake'

The head of an Israeli military probe into the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza has acknowledged a "mistake" on the part of troops involved in the incident.

"We're saying it was a mistake, we don't think it's a daily mistake," Major General Yoav Har-Even told journalists when asked if he thought the incident represented a pervasive issue within the Israeli military.

The military said there were "professional failures" and violations of orders in its review of last month's killing of the emergency workers but said there was no attempt to conceal the incident, despite dismissing a field commander for providing an inaccurate report.

The paramedics and other rescue workers were shot dead on 23 March near the southern Gaza city of Rafah 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.

A commanding officer is to be reprimanded and a deputy commander dismissed over the incident, the military said.

It did not say if anyone would face criminal charges.

"The examination identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident," the military said in a statement.

"The fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting," it said.

A video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed uniformed emergency responders and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.

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

The military said the deputy commander did not initially recognise the vehicles as ambulances due to "poor night visibility" and ordered troops to open fire on a group of individuals who emerged from a fire truck and ambulances.

The deputy commander perceived there to be a threat as an hour earlier troops had opened fire on another vehicle that they determined to belong to Hamas, the military said, but did not say how the soldiers had identified it as "Hamas vehicle".

Paramedic Munther Abed, one of the responders who was detained by the military and later released, has said soldiers opened fire on clearly marked emergency response vehicles.

The Red Cross said on 13 April that another Palestinian emergency responder was being held by Israeli authorities.

The Israeli military has not commented on the claim.

The military said, without providing evidence, that six of the 15 emergency responders killed were later identified as "Hamas terrorists". Hamas has rejected the accusation.

About 15 minutes after the soldiers opened fire on the group of emergency responders, the military said that soldiers fired at a Palestinian UN vehicle.

The military blamed "operational errors in breach of regulation" for the incident.

"At dawn, it was decided to gather and cover the bodies to prevent further harm and clear the vehicles from the route in preparation for civilian evacuation," the military said, adding that removing the bodies was reasonable "under the circumstances" but that crushing the vehicles was "wrong".

"In general, there was no attempt to conceal the event, which was discussed with international organisations and the UN, including coordination for the removal of bodies," it said.

The military said that a commanding officer would be reprimanded for his "overall responsibility for the incident".

A deputy commander would be dismissed from his position due to being the field commander and for providing an "incomplete and inaccurate report" of the incident.

Netanyahu says military to increase pressure on Hamas

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had instructed the military to intensify pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group this week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages.

In a late-night televised address, Mr Netanyahu said that while war came with a heavy price, Israel had "no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory."

Gaza's civil defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes since dawn have killed at least 25 people across Gaza, including women and children.

In a separate statement later, the agency reported that five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a group of civilians in eastern Rafah.

Since Israel resumed its offensive last month, at least 1,827 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The overall death toll in the Gaza war has reached 51,201, the majority of them civilians, according to the ministry, figures the UN considers reliable.

The war broke out after Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

During that attack, Palestinian militants abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held hostage in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

Egyptian mediators have been working to restore the ceasefire, which Israel abandoned last month after seeking to extend a temporary truce that had seen 38 hostages released.

Hamas has said it would only free the remaining hostages under a deal that ends the war.

Yesterday, Hamas said that it had recovered the body of a guard killed in an Israeli air strike this weekend who was holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza.

The fate of Mr Alexander was unknown, Hamas said.

US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Mr Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the 7 October, 2023 attacks, was a "top priority".

His release was at the centre of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.

Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Mr Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack.

A US State Department spokesperson had no comment on the status of Mr Alexander, but reiterated that Hamas must immediately release him and all remaining hostages, and that the militant group "bears sole responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities."

Since renewing its attacks, Israel has seized swathes of Gaza and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate in what Palestinians fear is a step towards permanently depopulating large areas of land.

Hamas yesterday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.

After the video was released, Mr Bohbot's family said in a statement that they were "deeply shocked and devastated," and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.

"How much longer will he be expected to wait and 'stay strong'?" the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.