The paramedical paramedics killed in Gaza were not armed – DW – 04/04/2025

New evidence seems to refute the initial account given by Israeli defense forces to explain why his soldiers killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and civil defense workers in Gaza at the end of March.

The Israeli army said at the time that its forces had opened fire on several vehicles after addressing troops without coordination or headlights.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRC), paramedical paramedics and civil defense workers were attacked by soldiers in Rafah on March 23. The bodies were only recovered in a serious mass seven days later.

The PRCS has now published a video which, according to the mobile phone, of one of the paramedical paramedics that was killed.

Shot through the windshield of a vehicle, two ambulances and a fire of fire with signaling lights on their roofs can be clearly seen driving in a convoy along a country road. The images were taken in the dark, which makes the lights of the signal clearly visible. After a short period of time, they stopped near a minibus that was not lit next to the road on an unpaved land.

Suddenly, you see that the windshield has several cracks. Two men – one of them in a high visibility vest – range from one of the ambulances already stationary to the broken vehicle. A frightened male voice is intended to speak in Arabic, then the person who turns seems to manage while the shots ring. The image becomes largely black.

The voice continues to speak in an anxious and pleading tone. It is possible to hear, among other things, prayers that Muslims say when they think they are close to death. The shots of the shots continues for several minutes. Then the video ends.

The Israeli army wants to investigate the video

According to the PRCs, he sent a copy of the images to the United Nations Security Council. A United Nations diplomat disclosed images of the New York Timeswhich was the first point of sale to publish it.

A editor -in -chief of the newspaper wrote on X: “We have received video sequences showing that Israel attacking the convoy of humanitarian workers in Gaza with a hail of bullets and a paramedical ambulancer saying desperately its dying prayers. The ambulances had lights and were marked, refuting the claim of Israel.”

Meanwhile, video sequences have been published on different lengths by many media such as DWThe guardian And the BBC and their social media channels. The resolution is not good in any of the versions.

If the Blood Bath of March 23 described by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society is an indication, it is clear that the vehicles were – unlike the story of the Israeli defense forces (FDI) – illuminated, they were easily recognizable as ambulances and that at least one of the people was paramedical.

While the management of TSAhal announced in a statement that it will examine “thoroughly” “all allegations, including the documents circulating on the incident”, the affirmations go on the Internet that people were not paramedical but the disguised terrorists. An immobile image of the video is used as presumed proof.

Claim: An X user has published a very blurred motionless image of the video, which is supposed to show one of the alleged paramedics. In front of him, a long dark spot on his left hand is surrounded in red. The user writes: “The video clearly shows armed terrorists in these ambulances.” The origin of the image could be a post on x This has been seen more than 300,000 times and is accompanied by a similar comment: “Interesting. I did not know that the AK-47 issued by the Red Cross as a standard medical equipment,” he said.

Verification of facts DW: FAKE

If you look at the sequence from which the image has been taken, you will quickly notice that the person shown does not carry a weapon. Both hands swing in a natural movement. If this person keeps something, she is so small that he cannot be seen on the video. The dark point turns out to be the shadow that the person throws into the headlights of the vehicle from which he films.

This is also what some user comments write Under the X messages.

Do reactions confirm anti-Palestinian prejudices?

In a later comment On his post, the owner of the account which would have made the false affirmation written that he did not mean the theory seriously. He implies that his post was a satirical blow to pro-Israeli voices which blame Hamas for all the injustice that is happening in Gaza. And concludes that he has explained the prejudices of these people: “confirmed confirmation bias”.

It is probably this psychological phenomenon This leads Internet users to recognize an assault rifle in the image: confirmation bias is a type of cognitive distortion in which the brain unconsciously perceives information selectively. Confirmation is then given mainly for what is expected or desired in advance (bias).

Confirmation Occurs when someone – without being aware of it – actively or passively seek information that confirms their own damage or thesis. The American-Israeli psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prix David Kahnemann It was even of the opinion that the confirmation bias can act as optical illusions.

Hauwau Mohammed and Rachel Baig contributed to this report