Autopsies conducted on the bodies of slain Gaza paramedics and rescue workers revealed that the majority of the victims suffered gunshot wounds to the head or chest. Some also sustained shrapnel injuries or other wounds.
Israeli troops fired upon ambulances and a fire truck belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society and Civil Defense. Witness accounts, videos, and audio recordings corroborate this account. The attack, which occurred on March 23, resulted in the deaths of 15 men – 14 rescue workers and a UN employee.
Israel acknowledged the attack but provided shifting explanations for its actions. They claimed, without providing evidence, that some of the victims were Hamas operatives and stated they were investigating the incident. Israel's actions have drawn international condemnation and have been described by experts as war crimes.
The autopsies, conducted between April 1 and April 5, were reviewed by Dr. Arne Stray-Pedersen, a forensic pathologist, who consulted with Dr. Ahmad Dhair of the Gazan health ministry's forensic medicine unit. The Times reviewed the autopsy results for all victims except the UN employee.
The paramedics and rescue workers killed in an Israeli shooting in Gaza last month died mainly from gunshots to the head or chest, while others had shrapnel injuries or other wounds, according to autopsy reports obtained by The New York Times.
Israeli troops had fired on ambulances and a fire truck sent by the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Civil Defense, according to witness accounts, video and audio of the March 23 attack.
Israel acknowledged carrying out the attack, which killed 15 men: 14 rescue workers and a United Nations employee who drove by after the others were shot. Israeli soldiers buried most of the bodies in a mass grave, crushed the ambulances, fire truck and a U.N. vehicle, and buried those as well.
The Israeli military has offered shifting explanations for why its troops fired on the emergency vehicles and said, without providing evidence, that some of the dead men had been Hamas operatives. Israel’s military said it was investigating the killing.
The episode drew international condemnation, and experts described it as a war crime.
The autopsies were carried out between April 1 and April 5, according to the reports, after a team of aid workers recovered the men’s bodies from southern Gaza. The Times reviewed autopsy results for all the men except the U.N. employee. They were performed by Dr. Ahmad Dhair, the head of the Gazan health ministry’s forensic medicine unit.
Dr. Arne Stray-Pedersen, a forensic pathologist at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, who had been in Gaza earlier in March to train doctors in forensic medicine, reviewed photos of the autopsies and consulted with Dr. Dhair to write a summary report.
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