LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a probe into the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza after a video appeared to contradict Israel's account of the incident and it walked back its version of events.
“There’s got to be an investigation,” Starmer told the United Kingdom's lawmakers Tuesday. “And we have to be absolutely clear that we’re not just talking about that isolated incident.”
The United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society have also condemned the March 23 incident, when the emergency workers were shot dead and buried in shallow graves. The Israel Defense Forces initially said it opened fire after unmarked vehicles approached in the dark, but changed its account after video showed clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks with their lights on coming under fire.
Starmer also criticized Israel’s “resumption of hostilities” in the Gaza Strip after two months of relative calm in the war-torn enclave came to an end and talks to extend the truce stalled. “We need to get back to a ceasefire,” he said.
He also echoed warnings from the U.N. that there “hasn’t been enough aid” getting into the Palestinian enclave after Israel halted all entry of humanitarian aid and goods into the Gaza Strip last month.
His comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first world leader to visit President Donald Trump at the White House after the U.S. introduced sweeping new tariffs on some of America’s biggest trading partners, including China and the European Union, as well as Israel.
At a news conference Tuesday, Trump said he sympathized with the Israeli hostages still held in the enclave. He also made another pitch for his plan for the U.S. to “own” Gaza and remove its Palestinian population.
He made no mention of the Israeli military's killing of 15 paramedics and emergency workers in Gaza.
The IDF initially said soldiers had opened fire on the vehicles as they approached its position “suspiciously,” without headlights or emergency signals. It said nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants had been killed.
But video recovered from the phone of one of the dead paramedics and reviewed by NBC News, showed an ambulance with its lights on and emergency lights flashing. The vehicle was clearly marked with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society's insignia. Lights on two other vehicles could also be seen flashing in the footage.
On Monday, the IDF said a preliminary inquiry found that Israeli soldiers launched their attack “due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area.” It did not expand on why a threat was perceived, but said “six of the individuals killed in the incident were identified as Hamas terrorists.” It did not provide evidence of this and said the inquiry was ongoing.
In an earlier news briefing Saturday, an IDF spokesperson had said the “individual who gave the initial account” appeared to have been “mistaken.” The spokesperson said the IDF was looking into whether an error was made.
Troops were not trying to hide anything by covering the bodies, but wanted to protect them from wild animals, the spokesperson said, adding that it was “common procedure” to cover vehicles.
The IDF notified the U.N. of the incident on the day it happened, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday that they could not confirm that. Asked for clarification, the spokesperson did not immediately respond.
Throughout the war in Gaza, members of Britain's Parliament have raised concerns about the country's arms exports to Israel, warning that they could be used to violate international humanitarian law.
After taking office in July 2024, Starmer’s government announced the suspension of around 30 licenses, out of about 350, to Israel, after the government had concluded there was a “clear risk” they “might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
Included in the suspension were licenses for equipment including components for military aircraft, “as well as items which facilitate ground targeting,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in September.
The U.K.'s foreign office declined to say what had prompted it to suspend the licenses after NBC News submitted a Freedom of Information request in September. Such a disclosure “would be likely to prejudice the U.K.’s international relations,” it said.
The U.S. continues to be Israel‘s biggest arms supplier, with Washington spending at least $17.9 billion on military aid for Israel in the first year of the country’s offensive in Gaza, according to a November report from Brown University’s Costs of War project.
