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(LifeSiteNews) — Following the Israeli government being caught lying about the circumstances surrounding its army’s execution and burial of 15 Palestinian paramedics and first responders in Gaza, Trump administration officials have doubled-down in blaming Hamas for the incident.
In what was reported last week as “the largest mass execution of humanitarian workers in the history of modern warfare,” the Israeli army killed eight Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics, six Civil Defense personnel, and one UNRWA employee in the southern Gaza region of Rafah as they were on duty attempting to reach victims of Israeli bombings on March 23.
The Israeli army initially claimed that the medical vehicles were “advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops, without headlights, or emergency signals,” but a video recorded by one of the executed medical personnel clearly revealed that their ambulances had their emergency lights on when the Israeli military opened fire on them.
“Forgive me, mother. This is the path I chose. To help people,” said Palestinian first responder Refaat Radwan on the recorded video minutes before he was killed.
In order to apparently cover-up the crime, the Israeli soldiers buried the 15 medics and destroyed their ambulances. Euro-Med Monitor reported that “some of the victims had still been alive despite their injuries – they were apparently buried alive with their feet bound.”
Following the release of this video the Israeli army backtracked, acknowledging the flashing lights of the vehicles had been operating when their soldiers began firing upon the unarmed medics. They also claimed that nine out of the fifteen homicide victims were linked with Hamas, but though being asked “multiple times” for evidence, none was provided.
“Forgive me, mother. This is the path I chose. To help people,” Palestinian medic Refaat Radwan said moments before being killed.
A new video published over the weekend refutes an IDF claim that ambulances approached without headlights or emergency signals. pic.twitter.com/WR33Q4u9hg
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 6, 2025
While the evidence of a war crime remains clear, the Trump administration is still backing the Israeli army’s assault upon these medics. “Hamas uses ambulances and more broadly human shields for terrorism,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters, providing no evidence for this serious charge.
“President Trump understands the impossible situation this tactic creates for Israel and holds Hamas entirely responsible,” he said.
This statement echoed an earlier answer to a question on the incident by State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on March 31. Though the video had not yet come out she also said Hamas was to blame for killing of the medics. “Every single thing that is happening in Gaza is happening because of Hamas. Every single dynamic,” she declared.
Hamas responded to Hughes’s statement on Monday stating these comments “represent a horrific example of unethical solidarity with the Nazis of our time, in their brutal war against innocent civilians and humanitarian organizations.”
“Hughes’ accusations against Hamas for using ambulances are nothing but lies, lacking any evidence. The U.S. administration, along with the war criminal [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government, is spreading these falsehoods to justify their horrific and documented crime against paramedics and rescue workers.”
The Israeli government has been routinely charged with employing the “Big Lie” tactic in its propaganda. Such tactics are characterized by a widely quoted 2001 directive by Netanyahu to a group of Likud Party loyalists where he said, “It doesn’t matter if justice is on your side. You have to depict your position as just.”
READ: Netanyahu utilizes ‘big lie’ tactic in address to US Congress, receives 58 standing ovations
Reflecting on his decades of experience as a top-ranking US official, retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson once candidly affirmed, “I never, never, ever believe Israeli figures. I’ve been in the government too long to know that the Israelis are patent liars in their intelligence community, in their propaganda community, certainly, and in their leadership. They are inveterate liars. Let me say that again. They are liars. So, you can’t believe anything that comes out of Jerusalem. It’s all propaganda.”
Sharp responses emerged on social media to the Israeli admission of committing the crime due to mistakes, and the U.S. response to this incident.
Popular commentator Caitlin Johnstone mocked, “Sure, who among us has not accidentally massacred 15 medical workers and buried them and their vehicles in a shallow grave from time to time? We’re only human, mistakes happen.”
Jewish journalist Max Blumenthal tweeted, “Netanyahu could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot a dozen people and Trump would blame Hamas.”
Netanyahu could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot a dozen people and Trump would blame Hamas https://t.co/AMly09e4yZ
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 7, 2025
READ: On Holocaust Memorial Day, Jewish group protests Israel’s ‘sadistic’ genocide in Gaza
Since Israel reinitiated its genocidal attacks upon Gaza on March 18, at least 1,149 Palestinians have been killed and 3,647 have been injured according to the Health Ministry in the enclave. These deaths include at least 505 children with 1,249 others having been wounded.
More broadly, since October 7, 2023 reliable reports of Palestinian deaths in Gaza number at least 50,399 including around 15,500 children.
In an open letter to President Trump on March 28, Bishop Joseph Strickland admonished that in Gaza, “the indiscriminate killing of civilians – including women and children – has reached an intolerable scale. The people of Palestine, many of whom have no affiliation with terrorist organizations, suffer immensely. War cannot be waged without regard for the innocent.”
“I call upon you to seek diplomatic solutions, (and) to demand an immediate end to the destruction in Gaza … lest the fires of war consume even more innocent lives.”
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Help bring aid trucks into Gaza: LifeFunder