An Israeliinvestigation has found a chain of “professional failures” after 15 Palestinian medics were killed in Gaza.
An investigation by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) into the killings on March 23 found the deaths of the aid workers were a result of an “operational misunderstanding”.
A deputy commander, who was the first to open fire, will be dismissed, with the investigation adding that he filed “an incomplete and inaccurate report” into another incident which took place moments after the attack.
Israel had initially claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire, but later backtracked as video recovered from one of the killed medics’ phones contradicted Israel's initial account.
The Israeli military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, "due to poor night visibility," assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants.
Video footage obtained shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier.
Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.
Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a UN staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave, with rescue workers only able to reach the site a week later.
The Israeli military investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an "operational misunderstanding" by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.
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But it insisted that the examination found "no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting”.
The deputy commander who will be dismissed was the first to open fire, and the rest of the soldiers also started shooting, the investigation said.
It said the soldiers were 20 to 30 metres from the road when the ambulances pulled up.
The findings asserted that six of those killed were Hamas militants — it did not give their names — and said some of the others were originally misidentified as Hamas.
Israel's military initially said nine were militants. The Civil Defence is part of the Hamas-run government.
No paramedic was armed and no weapons were found in any vehicle, Maj. Gen Yoav Har-Even, in charge of the military's investigative branch, told journalists.
The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but said there was no attempt to conceal the event.
Har-Even said the bodies and vehicles were removed from the road because the military wanted to use it for an evacuation route later that day.
He said the military notified international organisations about the shooting that day and helped them locate the bodies.
Har-Even said the deputy commander was fired for giving a not "completely accurate" report to investigators about the later incident in which troops fired on a UN vehicle. One person was killed.
The statement on the findings concluded by saying that Israel's military "regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians." The sole survivor was detained for investigation and remains in custody for further questioning.
The findings have been turned over to the Military Advocate General, who can decide whether to file charges. It is meant to be an independent body, with oversight by Israel's attorney general and Supreme Court.
There are no outside investigations of the killings underway.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defence, most of them while on duty, as well as over 1,000 health workers during the war, according to the UN.
The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents.