Israeli government spokesman David Mencer says “six Hamas terrorists” were among 15 paramedics in Palestine Red Crescent Society vehicles shot dead by the IDF in the Gaza.
Asked about the incident, which occured in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 March, he added: “What were Hamas terrorists doing in ambulances?”
Speaking at a press conference on Monday he backed claims that Israeli forces had opened fire after the vehicles carrying the medics moved “suspiciously” towards them.
“The incident was reported in real time to US officials, ” added Mencer, who said the IDF is “conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the incident that took place two weeks ago.”
Asked later what proof Israel had that six Hamas terrorists had been among those killed, having initially stated eight were from the group, Mercer declined to comment.
But he said Hamas had a history of “abusing emergency services” and that was “the real essence of this issue.”
“The Hamas terror organisation systematically violates international law,” he added, by taking over schools, hospitals and mosques.
In a briefing to journalists on Saturday night, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) official said that soldiers had “mistakenly” identified the paramedics as a threat and that the incident was under “thorough investigation”.
All claims “will be examined thoroughly and in depth in order to understand the conduct of the incident” said the official.
Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Red Crescent in the West Bank, told journalists in Ramallah on Monday that an autopsy revealed that “all the martyrs were shot in the upper part of their bodies, with the intent to kill”.
He called for an international probe into the killings, which the Israeli military has separately announced it was investigating.
“We call on the world to form an independent and impartial international commission of inquiry into the circumstances of the deliberate killing of the ambulance crews in the Gaza Strip,” Khatib said.
A video recovered from the cellphone of one of the dead aid workers, and released by the Red Crescent, appears to contradict the Israeli military’s account suggesting the vehicles did not have flashing lights on as they drove.
Footage shows ambulances travelling with their headlights on and emergency lights flashing.
Eight staff members from the Red Crescent, six from the Gaza civil defence agency and one employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugee are reported to have been killed in the incident.
An Israeli military official, briefing journalists over the weekend on condition of anonymity, had said troops had first fired at a vehicle carrying members of Hamas internal security force, killing two and detaining another.
Two hours later, at 6:00 am on March 23, the soldiers “received a report from the aerial coverage that there was a convoy moving in the dark in a suspicious way towards them” and “opened fire from far”, added the official.
