The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has demanded an independent investigation into the “atrocious” deaths of 15 aid workers killed by Israeli troops in Gaza in March.
The group’s president, Dr Younis al Khatib, said he had asked the UN Security Council to form an investigation committee into the “intentional killing of the medics”.
Speaking in Ramallah, he said those responsible must be held “accountable for these crimes” via international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention.
“It’s not enough to comfort us with condolences and nice words of investigation and accountability. There has to be action taken,” he added.
Dr al Khatib urged an “independent and thorough investigation of this atrocious crime” and that “no one should be above the law”.
“So many questions being asked of the Israelis,” he said.
“Why were they killed? Why did you destroy the ambulances after killing them? Why did you try to dig deep and hide the ambulances? They have to answer for that.”
Video emerges of aid workers being fired on in Gaza – contradicting Israeli account of deadly attack
Hundreds of names removed from official Gaza war death list
Israeli troops expand ‘security zone’ in northern Gaza – after announcing plans to seize areas of south
It comes after footage at the weekend showed the moment the aid workers were killed, with ambulances and fire insignia clearly visible and red lights flashing.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The paramedic filming, later found with a bullet in his head, is heard saying there are Israelis present and reciting a declaration of faith often used before someone dies.
He adds: “Forgive me, mother, this is the path I chose mother, to help people, forgive me, mother, I swear I chose this path only to help people.”
The Israeli military originally claimed the vehicles – which were travelling north of Rafah on 23 March – didn’t have headlights or emergency signals on and were targeted as they looked “suspicious”.
An IDF investigation is ongoing, but an Israeli government spokesman claimed on Monday that “six Hamas terrorists” were among those killed.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Middle East correspondent
It’s now more than two weeks since 15 medics were shot dead by Israeli forces in southern Gaza and there are still many unanswered questions.
Israel initially said that the medics had been fired upon because they were behaving suspiciously and travelling without lights on.
When footage emerged at the weekend contradicting that, and showing that the vehicles were clearly marked as ambulances, the IDF released a new statement admitting that their soldiers made a mistake.
For the first time since that video was made public, Sky News was able to put a series of questions to Israeli government spokesman David Mencer about the incident.
We asked what evidence the IDF have that six of the medics killed were in fact Hamas operatives, whether they will put any of their evidence into the public domain, and whether any of the soldiers involved in the incident had been withdrawn from operational duties in Gaza until their investigation is complete.
Mr Mencer did not answer those important questions directly but told an online briefing that Hamas use ambulances to travel around Gaza, and insisted six of those killed were Hamas terrorists, without providing any new evidence, and accused the international media of readily accepting Hamas’ version of events.
However, this version of events in fact came from United Nations bodies and the Palestinian Red Crescent, reputed organisations with people on the ground in Gaza itself.
The fact that Israel has already had to dramatically change its story once is why questions will remain until they provide the evidence to back up their latest version of what happened near Rafah around dawn on 23 March.
In response to Sky’s Alistair Bunkall, spokesman David Mencer said it was another example of Hamas hiding among civilians and using them as human shields.
“IDF soldiers opened fire at a distance at vehicles moving suspiciously in their direction,” he said.
“Among the dead were six Hamas terrorists – what were Hamas terrorists doing in ambulances? The incident was reported in real time to UN officials.”
He claimed there were “many documented occasions” when Hamas had used ambulances as cover.
An evacuation order was also in place at the time, which meant moving vehicles were prohibited, according to Israel.
Follow our channel and never miss an update
The head of the UN’s humanitarian affairs office, Jonathan Whittall, said the 15 people were found in a “mass grave” in the sand.
He said those killed comprised eight members of the PRCS, six civil defence members and one UN employee.
Dylan Winder, from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said it was “outraged at the deaths” and that “even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules”.
“They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have been protected. Their ambulances were clearly marked, and they should have returned to their families. They did not,” he said.
