Cliff Notes
- New findings from Haaretz reveal Israeli soldiers fired at aid workers from “point-blank” range, contradicting IDF claims of no close-range shooting.
- The investigation indicates misidentifications led to heightened tensions, with soldiers acting on questionable evidence from a non-Arabic speaking soldier’s interview with a medic.
- IDF admitted to ordering the destruction of aid workers’ vehicles, a departure from earlier assertions that it was accidental; motivations remain unexplained.
Israeli troops shot at Gaza aid workers from ‘point-blank range’, leaked documents reportedly show
New details from the Israeli military’s investigation into the killings of 15 aid workers in Gaza on 23 March directly contradict the IDF’s official narrative.
Among the findings reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the revelation that materials gathered by the IDF show soldiers fired at the aid workers from “point-blank” range during the attack.
The IDF has said there was “no shooting from close distance” during the attack, but Sky News previously revealed that some shots were fired from as close as 12 metres away from one of the medics.
The revelations by Haaretz – contained in IDF documents leaked to the publication – come just days after Sky News released its investigation into the killings, which found major gaps and inconsistencies in the IDF’s version of events.
On Sunday, two days after Sky News’ investigation was published, the IDF put out a summary of the findings from its official investigation into the 23 March killing of 15 aid workers.
The new statement backtracked on several key claims which Sky News had proven false, including that the vehicles lacked necessary travel permissions and that they were crushed accidentally while being removed from the road.
The report by Haaretz now calls into question central aspects of the IDF’s latest official version of events.