The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has dismissed the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit for his role in a March 23 incident in which Israeli forces opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and emergency vehicles in southern Gaza’s Rafah, killing 15 rescue workers.
The officer was also removed from his position for submitting a "partial and inaccurate" account of the incident during the initial investigation, the military stated.
Additionally, the commander of the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade—whose unit was leading operations in Rafah at the time of the shooting—has been formally censured for his "overall responsibility for the incident," including failures in managing the aftermath.
The disciplinary measures were decided by Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor and approved by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, following an investigation led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even, head of the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, an independent military body tasked with examining exceptional wartime incidents.
Har-Even’s probe found no violations of the IDF’s ethical code but identified several "professional errors" and breaches of military protocol by troops, as well as a failure to fully report the incident.
The IDF stated that it "regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians" and emphasized that the investigation aimed to prevent future recurrences.
"The existing guidelines on exercising extreme caution toward rescue teams and medical workers, even in active combat zones, have been reinforced and clarified," the military added.
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