Gaza City, Palestine – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have acknowledged the killing of two Palestinian men and their subsequent burial using a bulldozer in response to a video released by Al Jazeera. The IDF stated that the men appeared to be acting in a suspicious manner and did not respond to warning shots before they were shot and buried due to concerns of hidden explosives.
According to the IDF, the incident took place in central Gaza when the men approached an operational area in a manner that raised suspicions. The video released by Al Jazeera showed the men walking along a beach waving white flags before one of them crosses a barrier to approach Israeli soldiers stationed nearby.
As the men interact with the soldiers, the video cuts to one of the men walking away quickly from the barrier and being followed by an Israeli armored vehicle. He is seen waving at the vehicle before suddenly falling, indicating that he had been shot. The footage then shows an Israeli military bulldozer burying the bodies of the two men under sand and debris.
While CNN was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the video or confirm details of the incident, Al Jazeera accused the Israeli soldiers of attempting to cover up what they described as “executions.” CNN was able to confirm the location of the first shot near Al Rashid Street in central Gaza through visual evidence including satellite imagery and videos.
The IDF claimed that the edited video misrepresented the events by combining footage from two different incidents. They stated that the first incident involved a suspect in the southern part of Gaza who was shot and wounded after failing to respond to a warning shot. The second incident, according to the IDF, took place in the northern part of the Strip where two suspects carrying bags approached Israeli forces in a suspicious manner and were subsequently killed.
Despite the IDF’s explanations, the video of the incident has sparked controversy and raised concerns about the use of force by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The conflicting accounts of what transpired highlight the complexities and tensions that persist in the region.