The Israeli army announced today that the initial investigation into the murder of 15 rescuers in southern Gaza last month showed that the incident was the result of the “threat” that the soldiers felt.

According to this source, six Hamas fighters were in the area when the episode took place in the city of Rafa.

In his statement, the army says he continues to investigate in depth the incident, but the initials show that the soldiers opened fire, believing that they were threatened due to a “previous meeting in the area” and that six of the people who were killed were “identified” as members of Hamas.

The rescuers were killed on March 23 and buried in shallow graves. The Israeli army initially argued that it opened fire as vehicles without discreetly approached soldiers’ positions in the dark. But the narrative changed after released videos showing ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on fire.

A thorough research will take place in the coming days and its findings will be released, he assured today.

The Red Crescent has not yet responded to a request for a comment. He had called for an international, independent investigation, stressing that “targeting the ambulances” was “a blatant war crime, reflecting a dangerous pattern of repetitive infringement of international humanitarian law”.

The rescuers worked for the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the UN and the Palestinian Emergency Service.