Greg Bouwer
IINZ
On March 23, 2025, near Rafah in southern Gaza, Israeli ground forces targeted a convoy of ambulances. The vehicles were believed to be transporting Hamas operatives out of a combat zone. Tragically, the strike resulted in the deaths of 15 individuals. It was later confirmed that six of the dead were active Hamas terrorists – a critical fact obscured or ignored in much of the international commentary that followed.
The IDF launched an internal investigation and released its findings. It found a “serious professional failure” in how the vehicles were identified and targeted. The strike violated existing protocols. A deputy battalion commander was dismissed, and another officer was formally reprimanded. The investigation also noted that the forces involved acted “under pressure, at night, with limited visibility”, and were responding to real-time intelligence of Hamas fighters escaping the combat zone. In short, a serious error occurred in a high-stakes environment – but it was not intentional, and it certainly wasn’t random.
As always, Israel responded with self-scrutiny and accountability. But as is so often the case, Israel’s enemies and critics did not.
The Terror Beneath the Red Crescent
This is not the first time Hamas has exploited humanitarian protections. The group has a long, documented history of abusing ambulances, hospitals, schools, and UN facilities to transport fighters and weapons, embed command centers, and stage attacks. These are not fringe accusations; they are part of Hamas’s strategic doctrine. It knows that Israel respects international humanitarian law and that the misuse of protected symbols — like the Red Crescent — will generate outrage when an operation goes wrong.
Ambulances, like schools, mosques and clinics, have become tools of war in Hamas’s arsenal. The IDF has intercepted countless communications, footage, and even captured Hamas manuals detailing how to weaponize these symbols of safety. In 2006, 2014, and again in this war, Hamas fighters have been caught using ambulances to move between fronts or flee Israeli forces. This is not the exception – it is the rule.
Humanitarian Complicity or Naivety?
It is right to hold militaries accountable when mistakes are made. But what of the so-called humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza? Many have remained disturbingly silent about the systematic abuse of their assets and identities by Hamas. Worse, some have been complicit. Reports have emerged of NGO staff assisting Hamas or knowingly facilitating their logistics. Others, under pressure from Hamas, have refused to condemn or even acknowledge the abuse of their neutrality.
Neutrality is not a passive virtue. It must be actively upheld. If humanitarian actors fail to protect their neutrality — or worse, allow it to be eroded — then they contribute to the breakdown of the very protections they demand.
The failure of these groups to denounce Hamas’s behavior has eroded their credibility. It makes future tragedies more likely, not less.
Burial, Respect, and Misrepresentation
The bodies of the deceased were buried by Israel following the strike. Some critics, including so-called human rights advocates, rushed to frame this as a cover up. In reality, the burial was coordinated with local authorities and conducted to protect and preserve the remains until they could be properly identified – a grim necessity in war conditions. It was through this process that six of the 15 were confirmed to be Hamas members.
There was no cover up. On the contrary, it was a responsible and humane act – one distorted by those more interested in scoring political points than respecting the dead.
Israel Holds Itself to Account – Who Else Does?
The IDF’s investigation was swift, transparent, and meaningful. Officers were disciplined. Policy was reviewed. This is what accountability looks like in a functioning democracy. It is not perfect – war never is – but it is real.
By contrast, Hamas has never held anyone accountable for using a UN facility as a missile silo, or for launching rockets from schoolyards, or for hiding fighters in ambulances. There is no internal review. No military advocate general. No Geneva Conventions. Only exploitation.
In a war between a liberal democracy and a terror regime, these distinctions matter. Or at least, they should.
New Zealand and the Moral Litmus Test
In New Zealand, we pride ourselves on our commitment to humanitarian values. But if we are to take these values seriously, we must acknowledge when they are being abused – not just by states, but by terrorist groups. New Zealand’s voice matters, and we should use it to speak honestly: Israel is fighting a terror regime that weaponizes humanitarian norms. When mistakes are made, Israel investigates. Hamas celebrates.
The IDF’s tragic mistake on March 23 deserves reflection. But it also demands context. That includes the reality that ambulances are routinely used by Hamas as tools of war. That includes the fact that six terrorists were among the dead. And that includes the fact that the so-called neutral space in Gaza has, in many cases, ceased to be neutral at all.
If we care about protecting humanitarian workers, then we must also care about those who endanger them. And in Gaza, that is Hamas.
Because when terror wears a red crescent, it isn’t protected – it is disguising itself. And the world must stop pretending otherwise.
This article was originally published by the Israel Institute of New Zealand.
