Report: Autopsies show some Gaza medics killed by IDF in March were shot in the head
Analysis by Hamas health ministry doesn’t say if any of the 14 aid workers had been bound, as Red Crescent has asserted; IDF probe is ongoing
Some of the Gaza medics killed by Israeli troops last month in an incident now being probed by the IDF were shot in the head and chest, autopsy reports obtained by The New York Times indicate.
The autopsies were performed earlier this month by Dr. Ahmad Dhair, the head of the forensic medicine unit in the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, and were reviewed by a forensic pathologist in Norway, The Times reported Tuesday.
The autopsies noted that at the time they were killed, the 14 medics were all wearing at least part of their Palestine Red Crescent or civil defense uniforms, according to The Times.
Eleven of the men had gunshot wounds; of those, six were shot in the chest or back and four were shot in the head, the Times report said. Most of the victims were shot multiple times.
The autopsies were said to show that one man had several shrapnel wounds, two others had injuries potentially related to an explosion, and several bodies were missing limbs or body parts, with one man’s body severed from the pelvis down.
The bodies had decomposed after being buried by Israeli troops, so pathologists were unable to determine if they were shot at close range or whether their hands had been tied beforehand, the report said.
After the slain medics were found in late March, Dhair was widely cited in news outlets as saying the bruises on one victim’s wrists suggested that he had been bound, though the doctor warned at the time that further investigation was necessary.
A Red Crescent spokeswoman said at the time that one medic was found with his hands and feet bound. The spokeswoman, Nebal Farsakh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
UN officials said on March 31 that they had found 15 aid workers in a mass grave in the southern Gaza Strip, eight days after they had gone missing. The slain men were found along with mangled ambulances, apparently buried by IDF bulldozers, the officials said.
After the incident in Rafah came to light, the military initially said the vehicles were without headlights or emergency lights, had not been coordinated with Israel, and arrived on the scene shortly after a group of terror operatives. As such, the IDF said soldiers deemed them “suspicious” and opened fire.
The Times subsequently published a video that appeared to show the emergency vehicles were clearly marked and had their emergency lights on when soldiers opened fire, contradicting the IDF’s account and forcing the military to backtrack.
The army has said it is conducting a thorough probe of the incident.
The army has still asserted that at least six of those killed had been posthumously identified as Hamas operatives, denied that any of those killed had been executed, and said troops had not attempted to hide the incident but rather had informed the UN of the location of the grave they had buried the medics in.
The IDF did not respond to the latest Times report, other than to say that it would provide no further comment until the investigation of the incident is completed.
Israel accuses Hamas of embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and ambulances, throughout the war sparked on October 7, 2023, when the terror group stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
