Hundreds of Israeli medics demand prosecution of IDF soldiers who killed 15 aid workers in Gaza

UN teams rescue the bodies of aid workers killed by the Israeli army, March 2025

Nir Hasson reports in Haaretz on 9 April 2025:

Around 360 Israeli medical professionals, half of them doctors, signed a letter demanding an investigation into the killing of 15 aid workers in the Gaza Strip about two and a half weeks ago and their prosecution.

“We are shocked by this grave incident. The killing of rescue and medical personnel on duty is a blatant violation of international warfare laws, an act contrary to human morality,” they wrote.

“It is inconceivable that such a severe event would go uninvestigated, without a thorough, reliable, and impartial probe, leading to practical conclusions and accountability,” they added. “We are committed to medical ethics and believe in the sanctity of life for every person as a supreme value, both in peace and in war.”

IDF chief Eyal Zamir ordered the military’s investigative mechanism, responsible for examining war crimes allegations, to probe the killing of aid workers.  Since the war began, the mechanism has received information on dozens of incidents suspected to violate wartime laws, yet no Israeli soldiers have been prosecuted for them.

Last week, the Red Crescent and the Gaza health ministry announced that they had found the bodies of medical and rescue personnel who were on their way to assist civilians in Rafah in a mass grave.

The IDF admitted that its soldiers shot them. Initially, the IDF claimed the aid workers were driving without emergency lights, but a video revealed by the New York Times showed that the ambulances were driving with emergency lights on and that the aid workers, wearing fluorescent vests, were shot from close range.  The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that some of the bodies had their hands bound, but the IDF rejected the claim.

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