Israeli forces fired at least 910 bullets at Palestinian emergency vehicles in Gaza, killing 15 aid workers in March 2025, according to a new investigation. The incident took place in Tal as-Sultan, an area west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The report, released by independent research agency Forensic Architecture and audio investigation group Earshot, detailed the killings of Gaza aid workers.
Among those killed were paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), firefighters from the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD), and one staff member from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
According to Palestine Red Crescent Society's volunteer Munther Abed, the ambulance suddenly came under gunfire, and the driver, Mustafa Khafaja, and a passenger, Ezz El-Din Shaat, were shot during the attack. After being hit, Mustafa lost control of the ambulance. The vehicle swerved to the left and finally stopped near an electricity pole.
Munther said that once the shooting stopped, Israeli soldiers approached the ambulance from the right side. They arrested him and took him to a nearby pit. Later, he was moved again to an elevated area behind a tall concrete structure, where a group of soldiers was stationed.
Investigators studied a video found on the phone of Rifaat Radwan, a paramedic with the PRCS, who was killed in the attack. The device showed that the shooting began at around 5:09 am.
The investigators counted at least 844 gunshots in the recording. When they added other audio recordings from the scene, the total number of documented gunshots reached 910. The video was filmed from inside one of the last two ambulances in the convoy.
An Earshot analysis showed, "The density of gunfire frequently exceeds 900 rounds per minute. At one point, five shots were fired in just 67 milliseconds," according to Al Jazeera.
"Israeli soldiers ambushed and subjected Palestinian aid workers to continuous assault by gunfire for over two hours, between 5:09 am and 7:13 am," according to the analysis.
Earshot reported that the gunfire came from Israeli soldiers positioned on a raised sandbank, which is about 38 to 48 metres southeast of the vehicles. The soldiers would have had a clear view of the road below from their elevated position.
From there, investigators say, the vehicle's clear markings and emergency lights would have been properly visible.
Since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, the Benjamin Netanyahu government initiated an all-out war against Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) struck densely populated neighbourhoods, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure for over two years, killing more than 72,000 Palestinians. Despite the October 2025 ceasefire, Israel has targeted Palestinians and killed 611 people and injured another 1,630, according to UNRWA.
A recent report by the medical journal The Lancet says the death count during the first 16 months of the war was significantly higher than the official figures.
