by YZF | 2026-02-25 04:28:51+00:00
I wrote this length reply on another comment which ended up being flagged (not my comment but the other one), I think it's worth repeating:

There are a lot of question marks about this specific incident and there has been discussion of it in the Israeli media. That the anti-Israelis are going to latch on it as proof that Israel is evil is an unfortunate side effect. There is never a clean war and certainly not the kind of war that has been fought in Gaza.

We know, as the IDF reported, that there have been violations of commands during this incident. We know that the soldiers lied about some of the facts and some have been disciplined and removed from command.

I imagine most of the armchair critics here have never been in a situation where they have to make these sorts of calls. Being in an ambush in a war with an enemy that, let's say, uses "unconventional" tactics (aka war crimes) to try and kill you while vans are approaching you.

https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan-news/defense/887683/

As to the article/report:
- "Israeli soldiers ambushed and subjected Palestinian aid workers to a near continuous assault for over two hours even though the soldiers never came under fire." -> feels incorrect to me. Why would the IDF need to "continously" assault unarmed aid workers for two hours. The IDF's version where the ambush attacked the vans with a lot of firepower over a short time seems a lot more accurate.

- "The vast majority of these gunshots, at least 844, were fired over just five minutes and 30 seconds." -> this and the following bullet pretty much agree with the IDF report and seemingly conflict the previous bullet point. We do know another vehicle arriving at the scene later was also attacked (that is not disputed by the IDF and is mentioned in the report).

- "The emergency lights and markings of the victims’ vehicles would have been clearly visible to the soldiers at the time of the attacks." -> speculative. The soldiers argued they were wearing night vision equipment and did not see either the markings or the emergency lights. This is at least plausible (as someone who has used thermal night vision equipment).

- "Israeli soldiers first maintained fixed firing positions from the elevated sandbank, then walked toward the aid workers while continuing to shoot. Upon reaching the aid workers, the soldiers moved between them and the vehicles and executed some of the aid workers at point blank range, as close as one meter away." -> we know not all the aid workers were killed. I believe two were taken alive. As to the the force moving towards the vesicles while shooting that's standard infantry practice. So this is still consistent with a belief that they were firing at a Hamas force. "Executing" someone when it is already clear they are not a militant would be crossing the line for sure. Looking at the report: "A doctor who examined the bodies reportedly described the ‘specific and intentional location of shots at close range’ as indicative of an ‘execution-style’ shooting" refers to an article by the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/02/evidence-execu...

What seems to have been dropped from the report is: "He emphasised that there was room for uncertainty due to the decomposition of the remains, and that in other cases he reviewed “most of the bullets targeted the joints, such as the shoulder, elbow, ankle, or wrist”." also "Ahmad Dhaher, a forensic consultant who examined five of the dead at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis" we need to make some allowance for this investigation happening under Hamas control, likely not ideal conditions, and the report is preliminary. "“Preliminary analysis suggests they were executed, not from a distant range, since the locations of the bullet wounds were specific and intentional,” -> this last bit feels very weak to me. In a hail of bullets from close range they're naturally going to hit everywhere. A bit of a stretch to say "specific and intentional". Normally in forensics there are other ways to determine the distance someone was shot from - not the location.

Anyways, this is way too long already. I think Israel should hold itself to high standards and if there is a criminal element here prosecute those involved.