Israeli forces fired over 900 bullets to kill Gaza medics in 2025: Report

New investigation by Forensic Architecture and Earshot shows Israeli soldiers fired hundreds of rounds during massacre of aid workers in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers fired more than 900 bullets at a convoy of clearly marked Palestinian emergency vehicles in Gaza before advancing to kill the surviving aid workers, some of whom were shot “execution-style” at close range, last March, a new joint investigation has revealed.

The report released on Monday by independent research agency Forensic Architecture and audio investigation group Earshot offers the most detailed reconstruction to date of the massacre in Tal as-Sultan, a neighbourhood west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 23, 2025.

Fifteen aid workers were killed in the attack, including paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), firefighters from the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD) and a staff member of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The slain aid workers were then buried along with their vehicles.

The Israeli military initially claimed the vehicles were “uncoordinated” and later admitted a “professional error”. But the forensic analysis paints a different picture: a coordinated ambush, an absence of return fire and a calculated move to eliminate survivors.

The investigation relies heavily on a “situated testimony” technique and advanced audio ballistics to analyse the sound of gunfire to determine the shooter’s distance, weapon type and direction.