The Israeli military only acknowledged ‘professional failure’ after video emerged of the attack

On March 23, 2025, the Israeli military killed 15 Palestinian emergency workers in the al-Hashaashin area in the western side of Rafah city. The Israeli military claimed that the vehicles were moving suspiciously and without using flashing lights or markings showing they were emergency responders. Later on, the bodies and the vehicles were put in a mass grave that was discovered a week later.

The Israeli military claimed that these vehicles were used by Hamas’s operatives, but later, following the circulation of a video [by The New York Times], the Israeli military acknowledged that it was a sort of professional failure and breaches of orders…

The bodies that have been extracted from the mass grave have shown signs of execution made at close range [though Israel in its report denied the medics were executed].

International organisations have widely condemned the attack, calling to protect those who are working in the medical field, as they are doing nothing but their humanitarian work.


Israel’s killing of Palestinian paramedics points to ‘atmosphere of impunity’ in Gaza

Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar says Israel’s killing of the Palestinian paramedics points to an “atmosphere of impunity” for human rights abuses in Gaza.

“What we know is that we cannot trust the Israeli [military]. Unless The New York Times would have gotten hold of that video clip, I don’t think that we would know the truth,” Eldar told Al Jazeera. “It would be another cover-up.”

“There is an atmosphere of impunity in Gaza,” he added. “Every soldier is the general, and he can decide how to behave and what to do. And Israeli public opinion was, in the best case, indifferent and, in the worst case, was supporting this kind of conduct, so I hope something will happen.”

Rhetorical question...

Are Israel’s probes into its military’s conduct reliable?

Israel has a track record of denying accusations of wrongdoing and contradicting itself. Past investigations have exonerated the armed forces or placed the blame on a single individual without broader repercussions.

In 2022, Israel initially claimed Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh had been shot by Palestinian fighters in Jenin. The prime minister’s office even tweeted a video of Palestinian gunmen shooting in the refugee camp that was debunked within hours. After investigations by international media, Israel conceded to the possibility that it had “accidentally hit” the veteran journalist but said it would not launch a criminal investigation.

Last year, the Israeli military said claims by Palestinian authorities that the Israeli military had buried bodies at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital were “baseless and unfounded” despite nearly 400 bodies having been recovered from mass graves after Israeli soldiers departed the complex.

In January, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) chief prosecutor defended the decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence chief because the country failed to investigate allegations of war crimes in Gaza itself. Karim Khan said the ICC had not seen “any real effort” by Israel to take “action that would meet the established jurisprudence”.

Israeli rights organisation calls medic shooting probe ‘another cover-up’

The Israeli antioccupation group Breaking the Silence says Israel’s investigation into the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza is “riddled with contradictions, vague phrasing, and selective details”.

“We all remember when the [Israeli military] claimed that the ambulances emergency lights weren’t on – and then we saw the footage proving otherwise. Not every lie has a video to expose it, but this report doesn’t even attempt to engage with the truth,” the group said in a social media post. “Another day, another cover-up. More innocent lives taken, with no accountability.”

The IDF Spokesperson has just released its account of the incident in which 15 rescue workers were killed in Gaza. In a word? Cover-up.

The investigation is riddled with contradictions, vague phrasing, and selective details. The only "serious" disciplinary action taken: the… pic.twitter.com/6A28beKuXX

— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) April 20, 2025

Israel sees probe into killing of Palestinian medics as ‘proof of moral superiority’, says analyst

Israel’s public is welcoming an inquiry into the killing of 15 medics and aid workers in Gaza on March 23 as more proof of its “moral superiority”, Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg has said.

Israelis believe that, unlike other nations, “we investigate our own, our people pay the consequences for their actions”, Goldberg said, adding that this view was “at best a lie and at worse a great conspiracy”.

“While individual faults were found, the commission of inquiry ultimately found that the soldiers responded in an appropriate fashion,” he continued. “The whole world knows that this is a lie.”

Goldberg added, however, that he was encouraged by the fact that Israel had decided to conduct a probe into the incident, which suggested it was “beginning to realise the value of at least appearing to uphold … the claim that its legal system investigates the behaviour of Israeli forces”.

Ben-Gvir says deputy commander should be reinstated after Gaza medics killings probe

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has weighed in on the Israeli military’s probe of the March killing of 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir criticised the military’s decision to dismiss a deputy commander for the killings, one of the few repercussions for the attacks, which were otherwise labelled an “error”, despite evidence that medics had their hands tied together before being shot, and were buried along with the ambulances and other vehicles they were travelling in.

Ben-Gvir said the decision was a “grave mistake” and called on the decision to be reversed.

“”Our combat soldiers, who are sacrificing their lives in Gaza, deserve our full support,” Ben-Gvir said.

Earlier on Sunday, the minister, who is responsible for Israel’s police force, said he would promote officers who fired on “terrorists”.

“If there were once stutters in the minister’s office when a police officer was forced to defend his life and kill a criminal who shot him, today there are no stutters – there is complete support,” Ben-Gvir said.

There have been many instances where Israeli police forces have killed people in cases of mistaken identity, such as in November 2023, when an Israeli civilian, Yuval Castleman, was shot and killed after he had stopped an attack, and May 2020, when an unarmed autistic Palestinian man, Eyad al-Hallaq, was killed by Israeli police.

Human rights lawyer says Israeli probe raises more questions

Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice says the findings of an Israeli investigation into the slaying of 15 Palestinian paramedics and aid workers in Gaza raise questions about the Israeli military’s conduct in the Strip and the thoroughness of the investigative process.

“It’s a pretty surprising document. It’s also a document that invites many questions that it will be difficult, I suspect, for the [Israeli military] to answer,” Nice told Al Jazeera in a television interview.

“For example, [there is] the proposition that six of these people were Hamas, presumably members of Hamas on active [military] service, not people who might have been associated with Hamas in some way. No documentary evidence at all is identified [for that],” he added.

PRCS says Israeli narrative on killing of Gaza medics ‘contradictory’

The president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society has told Al Araby TV that the Israeli narrative on the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and aid workers in Rafah was “contradictory”.

“It is incomprehensible why the occupation soldiers buried the bodies of the paramedics in a criminal manner,” Younis al-Khatib said.

Al-Khatib added that the Israeli army communicated with the paramedics before killing them and that the evidence – including a video showing their ambulances flashing emergency lights – proved “the falsity of the occupation’s narrative regarding the limited visibility at the site”.

“An independent and impartial investigation must be conducted by a UN body,” he said.

“The report is full of lies,” PRCS spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told AFP. “It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.”


Israeli probe into killing of medics is a ‘whitewash’: Human rights advocate

Human rights advocate Adam Shapiro says that Israel’s report on the execution of Palestinian medics in Gaza attempts to place limited blame for the incident on a single person while leaving the systematic Israeli policies that enabled it untouched.

“I think ultimately this is a whitewash. It’s an effort to pin the blame on the errors of one person rather than an honest accounting of what happened,” he told Al Jazeera. “We know from the evidence that has been collected and presented by the Palestine Red Crescent that the victims were targeted, that they suffered close-range bullet wounds, that they had the lights on their vehicles at the time. Everything that the Israelis put out from the beginning was a lie.”

Shapiro also said that such efforts have long defined Israel’s approach towards allegations of rights abuses.

“Whether it’s in the West Bank, in Gaza, in Lebanon in previous generations, everywhere the Israeli military operates it conducts and commits war crimes and then it covers them up,” he said.

Main events on April 20th

‘Rupture on diplomatic ties’: French officials slam Israel’s cancellation of visas

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has cancelled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and other local officials two days before their trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The delegation included National Assembly deputies Francois Ruffin, Alexis Corbiere and Julie Ozenne from the Ecologist party, Communist deputy Soumya Bourouaha,  Communist senator Marianne Margate, and several town mayors and local lawmakers.

Some 17 members of the group issued a statement condemning the Israeli move and calling on French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene.

They said they had been victims of “collective punishment” and described the visa ban as a “major rupture in diplomatic ties”.

“Deliberately preventing elected officials and parliamentarians from travelling cannot be without consequences,” the group said, demanding action by the government to ensure Israel let them into the country.

Rare bravery by BBC reporter as he exposes IDF’s lies on paramedics’ deaths | Janta Ka Reporter

Rarely have you seen a member of the BBC, now-disgraced publicly-funded media outlet, highlight the atrocities committed by Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates in the IDF. That's why the BBC's reporting on the IDF's guarded confession in the killings of 15 paramedics came as a surprise today. Rifat Jawaid looks at the rare act of bold journalism by his former colleague in this sharp commentary.

Rescue efforts under way in Yemen’s Sanaa after US bombings

According to reports from Houthi-affiliated media, at least 12 people were killed and 30 others injured in the latest US strike that hit a popular market here in the capital, Sanaa.

The Houthis, who are also known as Ansar Allah, said the strike caused significant damage to buildings and private commercial shops. Ambulance and rescue teams are working to rescue victims, who are believed to be still trapped in the rubble of the latest attack.

The US had launched a major military offensive against Yemen’s Houthis in March, and since then, scores of people have been killed.


_{Aftermath of deadly US attack on Sanaa market}

Remember the only excuse for the continued bombing and killing of civilians is a perceived threat to 3% of US shipping through the Suez Canal...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/03/24/us-houthi-attacks-detour-africa/

75% of 3% is now taking a detour, bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure for 2.25% of US' shipping costing slightly more. All because US wants to continue to support genocide in Gaza.


Why is the US bombing Yemen?

US launches more attacks on Yemen

Houthis claim attacks on US aircraft carriers, vessels

The Houthis have claimed to have attacked two US targets.

“We carried out two military operations with drones on two targets in Ashkelon and Umm al-Rashrash,” the Yemeni group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said. “We targeted the American aircraft carriers Truman and Vinson and their naval vessels.”

UN official calls for accountability over Israeli killings of paramedics

Jonathan Whittall, who heads the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Gaza, has responded to Israeli claims that there was “no evidence to support claims of execution” in the killings of Palestinian paramedics last month.

“Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all, eroding,” Whittall said in a statement.

“Too many civilians, including aid workers, have been killed in Gaza. Their stories have not all made the headlines.”

The vast majority of their stories have not made the headlines:

More than 400 aid workers and over 1,300 health workers have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023, despite the requirement under international humanitarian law for humanitarian workers to be protected.

Only some of those with dual citizenship and some foreign aid workers make the headlines...

‘Summary executions’: Gaza Civil Defence slams Israeli probe into medics’ killings

Gaza Civil Defence rejects the findings of an internal probe conducted by the Israeli army into the killing of 15 unarmed medics and rescue workers in March.

“The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation’s narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,” Mohammed Al-Mughair, a Civil Defence official, told the AFP.

His comments came a day after the Israeli army released its own investigation, admitting “professional failures” but denying its troops executed any of the dead.

Al-Mughair also accused Israel of seeking to “circumvent” its obligations under international law.

Israel gives ‘false pretext’ to justify its crimes: Gaza Civil Defence spokesman

The Israeli military “always provide[s] false pretext in an attempt to justify any of the crimes committed by them. This is a fully-fledged war crime”, said Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence, referring to Israel’s inquiry into a group of Palestinian aid workers killed by Israeli soldiers last month.

“That’s why the Israeli occupation forces falsely claimed that these were members of jihad, [the] Islamic Jihad resistance movement,” Basal told Al Jazeera, speaking from Gaza.

“Yet we, the Civil Defence, have established from day one that all our team members are pure civilians. They are not affiliated to any military action. We are operating in a government led by Hamas. However, none of us is a Hamas fighter or a militant,” he said.

Israel’s claims of poor visibility are also not justified, “as these were ambulance vehicles flaring [their] emergency red and blue lights [and] also blaring their sirens”, Basal said.

The slain crew members were also all “sporting the orange bibs, the orange vests that clearly indicate they were paramedics and civil defence members”.

56% of Israelis back deal to release captives, end Gaza war: Poll

Some 56 percent of the Israeli public supports an agreement allowing the release of all captives held by Hamas in exchange for the end to the war in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to the latest survey published by Kan, Israel’s state broadcaster.

According to the survey, 22 percent of the Israeli public is opposed to such a deal.

The survey, conducted by Kantar Institute, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party gaining seats in parliament, while the support for Yair Lapid’s opposition Yesh Atid has weakened.

Israeli opposition figure denounces deployment of new soldiers ‘without full training’

In a statement posted on X, Yair Golan, leader of the Israeli opposition party The Democrats, says the Netanyahu government is allowing the deployment of recruits to Gaza “without full training” because there are not enough soldiers to fight.

“The burden on the reservists is unimaginable,” Yair wrote in Hebrew. “The public we serve repeatedly pays the price of an irresponsible and shameless government. It’s time for everyone to bear the burden. Everyone.”

Sacked Shin Bet chief tells court he was asked by Netanyahu to spy on antigovernment protesters: Report

Ronen Bar, the sacked chief of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, has told Israel’s Supreme Court that he was ordered by Netanyahu to spy on antigovernment protesters, according to a report by the Haaretz newspaper.

In an affidavit submitted to the court, Bar wrote that he was asked to “provide details about the identities of Israeli citizens, protest activists, who had followed security personnel” and to be aware of who were “protest funders”, the paper reported.

The document also confirmed a Haaretz report that Netanyahu tried to get Bar’s signature to delay the prime minister’s testimony in his corruption trial, it reported.

Returning captives not the most important goal: Smotrich

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that returning the captives is not the most important goal of the war.

“We need to eliminate the Gaza problem,” he said in an interview with the right-wing Galei Israel radio station.

His statement comes days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for a deal to get the captives back.

How much more genocidal intent do you need to satisfy the Geneva conventions... What is taking the ICJ so long.
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf


Last update was a week ago April 14th
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20250414-ord-01-00-en.pdf

"Whereas, by a letter dated 27 March 2025, the Co-Agent of Israel requested the Court to extend until 28 January 2026 the time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of Israel, stating that such an extension was necessary for a number of reasons;"

More stalling by Israel of course, let the genocide continue while giving the perpetrator extra time to delay and fabricate more excuses.

"Whereas, by a letter dated 4 April 2025, the Agent of South Africa stated that his Government was of the view that the request for an extension of the time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial should be rejected ... the Agent emphasized that a delay in addressing a genocide claim would be unjustifiable considering the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Israel’s continuing acts and omissions in violation of the Genocide Convention;"

And the court sides with Israel

"Taking into account the views expressed by the Parties, Extends to 12 January 2026 the time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of the State
of Israel; and Reserves the subsequent procedure for further decision."

Arrests made in India for ‘Free Gaza, Free Palestine’ posters: Report

Seven people have been arrested in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly putting up “Free Gaza, Free Palestine” posters, The Times of India reports, quoting local police.

“The posters called for a boycott of Israeli goods,” officer Baniyathair Ram Veer Singh was quoted by the newspaper as saying, adding that those arrested were caught with the help of CCTV footage.

The arrests in Sambhal district come as India has cracked down on pro-Palestine protests under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pro-Israeli rallies by Hindu far-right groups have been allowed.

New Delhi has also supplied weapons to Israel despite a genocide case against it under way at the International Court of Justice.

Ties between India and Israel have grown particularly rapidly under Modi and Netanyahu.

_{A pro-Palestine protestor holds a placard in support of Palestine in the southern city of Bengaluru in India}

Israeli forces raid refugee camps in occupied West Bank

Palestinian sources say Israeli forces have arrested a young man during a raid on the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

The arrest came as Israeli forces also raided the Fawwar refugee camp and the Wadi Abu Katila area in Hebron.

Palestinians forcibly displaced from Jenin shelter at West Bank university

Hundreds of Palestinians who have been displaced by Israel’s military siege of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank are sheltering at the Arab American University campus in the city of Jenin, according to the AFP news agency.

Mohammed Shalabi, a 53-year-old Palestinian father, is among them.

“Everyone knows that when the army enters, it destroys the infrastructure, even the cars,” the municipal worker said of the Israeli military operation, which began in Jenin on January 21.

Shalabi said he has avoided “discussing all of this” with his 80-year-old father to protect his fragile health.

“But he understands and sometimes, he cries, because he lived through the Nakba, and now this…” said Shalabi, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians in the war that accompanied Israel’s creation in 1948.

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian shop in Hebron

The Wafa news agency is reporting that the settlers burned down a shop belonging to the Abu Shukr family in the Old City of Hebron. The Hebron fire department has controlled the fire, it reported.

Israeli army conducts more raids, arrests in occupied West Bank

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli army has conducted nearly daily raids and mass arrests in cities across the occupied West Bank. Here’s what happened in the past 24 hours:

Three people killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank

At least three people have been killed in the occupied West Bank as a result of Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.

At the same time, the ministry said one person has died of suffocation from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.

‘Gaza needs food now’

The World Food Programme (WFP) has again reiterated its call for an end to Israel’s blockade on aid into Gaza, saying Palestinians there “do not know where their next meal is coming from”.

In a post on X, the WFP said that “Gaza needs food now” and urged “all parties to prioritize the needs of civilians, protect humanitarian workers and allow aid to enter Gaza immediately”.

The Israeli blockade, which began on March 2, is the longest continuous restriction on aid into Gaza since Israel launched its war on the territory in October 2023.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has said that famine is worsening in Gaza and called on the international community to compel Israel to let in aid immediately.

The vast majority of the population in #Gaza are children, women and ordinary men. They endure unimaginable suffering.

Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.#CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/2voQA4UqCA

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 21, 2025

Gaza death toll since Israel resumed its offensive nears 1,900

Israeli air attacks have killed at least 39 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in 18 months of war to 51,240, the enclave’s Health Ministry said. It said 62 others were admitted to hospitals, taking the number of wounded people to 116,931.

At least 1,864 people have been killed and 4,890 people wounded since Israel relaunched its offensive, ending a ceasefire on March 18, according to the ministry.

At least 595 children and 308 women were among those killed over the past month, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

_{Israel bombs tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City}