Israel’s military finally admitted responsibility for killing a UN worker with tank fire in occupied Gaza last month, having previously denied involvement.

The admission from the IDF comes as Israel yet again faces scrutiny over the continuous attacks on emergency workers. Earlier this week, the IDF said “professional failures” led to the killing of 15 emergency staff in a separate incident in Gaza.

Critics say that the level of destruction and devastation by Israel demonstrates a complete disregard for civilian casualties. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 51,300 people have been killed since the genocide began on October 7, 2023.

The IDF initially denied striking a UN site when Bulgarian employee Marin Valev Marinov was killed at a UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS)  compound in Deir al-Balah on March 19.

But on Thursday, preliminary findings from their investigation confirmed that Israeli troops were responsible.

“The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a UN facility,” said the IDF.

At the time, a UN spokesperson said: “The locations of all UN premises are known to the parties to the conflict, who are bound by international law to protect them and maintain their absolute inviolability.”

The incident, which left five other UN personnel seriously injured, occurred just one day after Israel broke off the two-month ceasefire and renewed its attacks on Gaza.

New details contradict Israel after it killed medical workers

Meanwhile, new developments have come to light in the killing of 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers by Israeli troops last month. 

On March 23, fourteen emergency workers and a UN worker were killed after a convoy of Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulances, a UN vehicle and a fire truck came under Israeli fire.

Israel initially defended the incident. It claimed forces fired on the convoy because it had approached “suspiciously” in darkness without headlights or emergency signals.

But footage recovered from a killed medic showed clearly identifiable emergency vehicles with flashing lights and paramedics in high-vis uniforms. The five-minute video captures the convoy stopping on the road before coming under fire as the medic recites his final prayers. 

An investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz contradicted the army’s official account. It reported that soldiers fired indiscriminately at the vehicles for three and a half minutes from close range, despite aid workers’ attempts to identify themselves.

While an IDF’s inquiry acknowledged “operational misunderstandings” and a “breach of orders,” it denied that soldiers fired indiscriminately at medical personnel.

A Palestine Red Crescent Society spokeswoman dismissed the IDF report as “invalid,” saying it “justifies and shifts the responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.”

Gaza’s health ministry reports that at least 1,978 people have been killed since Israel renewed its attacks, with at least 50 reported killed by Israeli strikes on Thursday.

Image source: UN