The IDF on Thursday admitted that it killed a UN official on March 19 after repeated detailed denials to The Jerusalem Post and other media outlets.
Based on the IDF’s specific previous denials, the Post has reported the military’s narrative that the UN official’s death and the wounding of five others were caused by an unexploded land mine or other ordinance that a UN official had tampered with and not IDF activity that day.
In fact, pressed multiple times by the Post, the IDF said there absolutely had been no IDF military fire in that area on that day.
On Thursday, however, the IDF said tank fire had mistakenly killed the UN official and wounded five others on March 19 in central Gaza. It was the second incident in the past week in which the IDF admitted a lethal error.
IDF admits to a separate incident in southern Gaza
On Sunday, the IDF claimed responsibility for an incident last month in southern Gaza in which it mistakenly killed 15 International Red Crescent medics and wounded another when it misidentified them as Hamas terrorists, even though they were unarmed and driving in ambulances. After the incident, a deputy Golani commander was relieved of his duties, and a brigade commander was censured.
In the incident on March 19, a tank crew and other soldiers had identified terrorist suspects and fired on the facility they were in to kill them, the IDF said.
It was unclear from the IDF what the suspicious signs were or whether there were enemy fighters in the structure.Furthermore, the IDF said it was not aware that the structure was a UN facility.
The IDF has not yet explained why it did not initially say it was unsure whether it was responsible or why it so categorically denied involvement but has now fully reversed itself to admit responsibility.
This incident is unlike the medics incident in which the IDF admitted fault from the start, although it initially claimed certain extenuating circumstances, which it later mostly renounced when admitting fault.
However, the Post has learned that the tank crew that fired on the facility initially claimed that since it thought it had fired on the enemy and not UN assets, it did not flag its firing on that structure as problematic when initially questioned by IDF officials about the incident.
Only during a more detailed check and questioning by the General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, headed by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even, did the tank crew realize it had fired on a UN official. Alternatively, the tank crew may have given an account that initially was not true, but no sources are claiming that at this point.
Findings presented to Eyal Zamir and UN representatives
The latest developments are based on interim findings collected by Har-Even’s team, which have been presented to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and to representatives of the UN.
Under Zamir’s directive, the examination will be completed in the coming days, pending the receipt of additional required information. He has also instructed that upon completion of the process, the full findings be presented to the UN representatives.
The IDF said it “regrets this serious incident and continues to conduct thorough review processes to draw operational lessons and evaluate additional measures to prevent such events in the future.”
“We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the family,” it said. “As part of the IDF’s commitment to transparency and dialogue with international entities, the IDF has shared the findings gathered thus far with the UN. The IDF places great importance on continued engagement with international organizations, as part of efforts to enhance coordination, apply lessons learned, and prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future.”