Israel Executed Paramedics in Gaza With Gunshots to the Head, Autopsies Show

Autopsies of the paramedics who were killed by Israeli forces and buried in a mass grave in Gaza last month found that many had been shot in the head and chest, according to new reports on the massacre that has sparked international backlash.

Autopsies for 14 out of 15 of the medics found that four of them had been shot in the head, while six were shot in the chest or back, The New York Times reports. The majority of them were shot multiple times, and all were clearly identified as emergency workers, with Red Crescent or civil defense uniforms on.

Per the Times, some bodies were missing limbs, while one was “severed from the pelvis down.” But it was reportedly difficult to make conclusions about how far the victims’ assailants were when they were shot, as the bodies were partly or severely decomposed, since the medics were missing for days after Israeli soldiers had buried their bodies in attempts to hide the slaughter.

The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies in Gaza, Ahmed Dhair, also said that several of the slain medics showed evidence of being shot with “explosive bullets” — or bullets that explode on impact, shredding their victims.

“In one case, the bullet head had exploded in the chest, and the rest of the bullet fragments were found within the body. There were also remnants or shrapnel from bullets scattered on the back of one of the victims,” Dhair told The Guardian. Dhair also said that one of the victims showed evidence of being tied up by the wrist.

The findings come as Israel was forced to change its narrative on the killings last week after footage of the attack contradicted Israel’s initial assertion that the paramedics were traveling “suspiciously” in vehicles without emergency lights or markings.

Video footage, instead, showed that the group was traveling in clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks that had their lights on when they were attacked. The workers were also wearing their emergency responder uniforms.

Israeli officials blamed the account on the person who prepared the initial report, saying that they were “mistaken,” but maintained that the soldiers were targeting “terrorists.”

However, Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals, health care workers and emergency responders throughout the genocide. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has called for an independent investigation into the attack, which it said is a “full-fledged war crime.”

The UN said that Israel had executed the paramedics “one by one” and buried them in a mass grave as they were responding to another Israeli attack on March 23.

“We’re digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave,” said the head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, last month. “These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There’s a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer — Israeli forces bulldozer — has buried them.”