Video challenges Israel's account of medics' deaths

UNITED NATIONS — Phone video from one of 15 Palestinian medics killed by Israeli forces last month appears to contradict Israeli claims that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire on them in southern Gaza.

The footage shows the Red Crescent and Civil Defense teams driving slowly with their emergency lights flashing, logos visible, as they pull up to help an ambulance that had come under fire earlier. The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward the stricken ambulance.

Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire, which goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses. The owner of the phone can be heard praying.

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a United Nations staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by Israeli troops conducting operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops then bulldozed over the bodies with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society's vice-president, Marwan Jilani, said the phone with the footage was found in the pocket of one of its slain staffers.

Asked about the video, the Israeli military said on Saturday that the incident was "under thorough examination".

The Israeli military earlier said it opened fire on the vehicles because they were "advancing suspiciously "on nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals.

The initial account of the vehicles not having emergency lights on was mistaken, an Israeli military official told journalists on Saturday evening. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure — arguing this justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.

Jonathan Whittall, interim head in Gaza of the UN humanitarian office, dismissed allegations that the slain medics were Hamas militants, saying staff members had worked with the same medics previously in evacuating patients from hospitals.

Separately, United States President Donald Trump plans to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in what would be their second White House sit-down since Trump's return to office.

The visit, confirmed by a White House official and Netanyahu's office on Saturday, comes as Israel deploys troops in a new security corridor across Gaza to pressure the Hamas militant group.

Netanyahu's defense minister has said Israel will seize large areas of the territory and add them to its so-called security zones.

Agencies via Xinhua