A video recorded by one of 15 medics killed during an Israeli strike in Rafah last month appears to contradict the IDF’s account of the incident, showing ambulances and fire trucks with emergency lights activated seconds before gunfire erupted.
The seven-minute video, filmed on March 23—the day after the IDF resumed its military offensive in Rafah—was presented to the United Nations Security Council by the Red Crescent. It shows a convoy of clearly marked emergency vehicles approaching a car that had veered off the road north of Rafah in the early morning hours.
Video that allegedly shows the killing of the paramedics in the Rafah incident
(Video: The New York Times )
Emergency workers, including two in uniform, are seen exiting the vehicles and approaching the scene before being fired upon. Several of the individuals are shot after leaving the vehicles, according to the footage.
The IDF had claimed the vehicles approached troops without prior coordination, driving suspiciously and without headlights, prompting soldiers to open fire. However, the video footage, reportedly filmed from the front of a moving vehicle, shows flashing emergency lights on ambulances and fire trucks moments before the shooting.
2 View gallery
Aid workers move toward the ambulance that veered off the road, just before the shooting begins
(Photo: from New York Times)
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 15 paramedics and aid workers—including at least one UN employee—were killed and buried in a mass grave. The Red Crescent and civil defense teams arrived at the scene a day later to search for survivors. The Guardian previously reported that the emergency vehicles targeted in the strike were clearly marked.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
According to The New York Times, which reviewed the clip provided by a senior UN official who requested anonymity, the video also includes five additional minutes of audio after the visuals end. The recording reportedly contains the voices of aid workers and Hebrew-language commands believed to be from Israeli forces.
2 View gallery
Marked ambulances and a fire truck, seconds before gunfire is opened on them
(Photo: from New York Times)
The IDF has not yet responded to the clip. The military previously stated that nine of those killed were operatives of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Times confirmed the location of the incident and reviewed satellite imagery taken hours after the strike, showing five ambulances and a fire truck at the scene. Imagery captured two days later showed three IDF excavators next to a grave, where the vehicles were buried and the site blocked off with mounds of earth.
The Guardian also cited claims that some of the medics were found shot execution-style, with their hands and feet bound. These allegations have not been independently verified.