Israel changes account of Red Crescent killings

The Israeli military has changed its initial account of its killing of 15 medics and civil defence workers near southern Gaza's Rafah on 23 March.

Last week, the humanitarian workers went missing after responding to a distress call from civilians wounded in an Israeli attack in Rafah. All contact was lost with them and the medics were found days later in a mass grave, two to three metres deep, with their bodies riddled with gunshots, according the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza. 

New video evidence emerged on Saturday that contradicted the Israeli military's claims that soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position "suspiciously" in the dark without lights or markings

The footage, which was retrieved from a phone belonging to one of the medics who was killed, shows the Israeli army attacking clearly marked Red Crescent ambulances that had their emergency signal lights on, and emergency medical workers wearing reflective vests.

An Israeli military official said on Saturday that the initial report was likely "mistaken," adding that the investigators were examining the video and conclusions were expected to be presented to army commanders on Sunday.

Israeli media briefed by the military reported that troops had identified at least six of the 15 dead as members of militant groups, without providing evidence for this claim.

"According to our information, there were terrorists there but this investigation is not over," the official told reporters at the briefing late on Saturday.

The U.N. and Palestinian Red Crescent have demanded an independent inquiry into the killing of the paramedics.