The Israeli military has walked back its account of its killing of 15 paramedics and emergency workers in southern Gaza last month after video emerged that called into question its version of events.
The reversal came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington on the invitation of President Donald Trump.
The Palestinian paramedics and emergency responders were killed March 23.
The Israel Defense Forces initially said soldiers opened fire on vehicles as they approached its position "suspiciously," without headlights or emergency signals. It said nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants had been killed.
NBC News reviewed video recovered from the phone of one of the paramedics killed, and in it an ambulance can be seen with its lights on and its emergency lights flashing when soldiers opened fire. The vehicle was also marked with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society's insignia. Lights on two other vehicles can also be seen flashing.
The Israeli military changed its account after the video of the shooting emerged. On Saturday, a spokesperson said in a news briefing that the initial report received from the field had not described any lights, but that it appeared that the "individual who gave the initial account was mistaken."
The IDF spokesperson said investigators were still looking at “operational information” to try to determine whether and why an error had been made, according to a transcript of the briefing. The spokesperson refused to comment when asked why the IDF had initially described the vehicles as moving “suspiciously.”
The spokesperson said the incident unfolded around two hours after an encounter with a "Hamas vehicle" that the military also opened fire on. Two people were killed and another detained for interrogation, the spokesperson said, during which he admitted to being a Hamas member.
Last week, Palestinian civil defense workers shared video with NBC News that they say show bodies of the emergency workers buried in a shallow grave.
The bodies of eight Palestinian medics, six civil defense first responders and a United Nations worker were among those recovered. Their deaths raised the number of aid workers killed in Gaza to 408, according to the U.N.
The IDF said troops were not trying to "hide anything" by covering the bodies of the first responders killed, and instead wanted to protect them from "wild animals" before moving on to another mission. Asked why the vehicles were also damaged and covered, it said that was "common procedure" to cover them with a camouflage net and that they were damaged while being moved.
The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House on Sunday said Trump held Hamas responsible for the incident because Hamas uses ambulances and "human shields."
Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week comes at a tricky time for the Israeli leader.
On Sunday, he said that he planned to discuss “the hostages, the completion of the victory in Gaza, and of course the tariff regime that was also imposed on Israel.”
Trump's sweeping actions on tariffs policy included a 17% levy on Israeli goods, despite Israel having canceled all its tariffs on goods from the U.S., its largest trading partner.
The visit also comes after a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli troops in the village of Turmusaya in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials identified the teenager as American Palestinian Omar Muhammad Sa’ada Rabi. NBC News was not immediately able to independently confirm his identity with American officials or reach his family
In a statement, the IDF said it had identified three people "who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving." It said the soldiers decided to open fire toward the three people, killing one person and hitting two others.
As of Monday morning, the White House did not appear to have commented on the incident.
