IDF finds 'professional failings' over deadly attack on aid workers

The Israeli military has said its investigation into the killing of aid workers in Gaza has found there were "several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident".

A deputy commander will be dismissed for providing an "inaccurate report" and a commanding officer will be reprimanded following the military probe, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, adding there was "no attempt to conceal the event". Fifteen aid workers were shot dead by Israeli troops who opened fire on a convoy of vehicles, including ambulances, on 23 March.

They were then buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The probe's findings come after a Sky News investigation earlier this week revealed how the deadly attack unfolded, contradicting Israel's official account of the killings.

At first, Israel claimed the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops fired their shots, but later backtracked. Mobile phone video which was recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel's initial account.

Footage showed the moment the aid workers were killed, with ambulances and fire insignia clearly visible and red lights flashing as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier. In a statement on Sunday, an IDF spokesperson said: "The Commanding Officer of the 14th Brigade will receive a reprimand, which will be recorded in his personal file, for his overall responsibility for the incident, including the procedure of combat and management of the scene afterward.

"The deputy commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion will be dismissed from his position due to his responsibilities as the field commander in this incident and for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief." The deputy commander is a "highly respected officer" who had returned from abroad to serve in reserve duty following Hamas's 7 October attack, the IDF statement said. The statement did not say if anyone would face criminal charges.

Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent, told the AFP news agency that the report was "invalid" as it "shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different". 'Poor night visibility' The Israeli military investigation found that the incident happened in a "hostile and dangerous combat zone" and the deputy commander did not initially recognise the vehicles as ambulances "due to poor night visibility.