Israeli troops shot at medics from as close as 12 metres, audio analysis suggests
Audio analysis of footage of an Israeli attack on an aid worker convoy last month suggests that some of the shots were fired from as little as 12 metres away.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has admitted killing the unarmed medics, saying that the convoy was acting “suspiciously”.
A spokesman told journalists in a 5 April briefing that an initial investigation had found there was “no firing from close distance” during the incident on 23 March.
Sky News has spoken to two independent audio forensic experts who analysed a 19-minute video of the attack filmed by Rifaat Radwan, one of the medics who was killed.
The expert analysis shared with Sky News suggests that the first gunshots heard in the video are likely 40-50 metres away from the phone recording the footage, but gunshots heard later are closer in distance – around 12-18 metres away.
Audio from the first three seconds of the attack captures multiple gunshots being fired.
In response to our findings, the IDF said a preliminary inquiry indicated that troops “opened fire due to a perceived threat following an encounter in the area”.
The shooting continues for six and a half minutes
The 19-minute video shows a convoy of marked ambulances and a fire engine travelling south along a road east of Rafah city.
A spokesman for the Israeli military initially claimed the emergency vehicles were travelling without any headlights or emergency signals, but the IDF later backtracked after the video disproved this claim. All vehicles visible in the convoy have their emergency lights on.
The video below shows the first gunshots fired during the attack.
After analysing the video, two audio forensic analysts told Sky News that “multiple shooters” were likely involved in the incident and “over 100 gunshots” were fired.
Audible gunshots are first heard 13 minutes and 35 seconds into the video, shortly after the convoy arrives at the scene of an earlier attack. The shooting continues for six and a half minutes.
Professor Rob Maher from Montana State University, an audio forensics expert working as an independent consultant, said: “The first few audible gunshots are likely 40-50 metres away from the (phone) microphone, based upon the crack-pop acoustic sequence and an assumption about the bullet speed.
“With so many audible gunshots, it seems likely that there were many firearms involved, and that those shooters were at different locations at different times during the many minutes of shooting.”
Most bullets travel faster than the speed of sound, this is called ‘supersonic’.
When a supersonic bullet is fired, the first sound you hear is the sharp ‘crack’ made by the bullet’s shockwave. After that, you hear the ‘bang’ from the gun firing, or muzzle blast. This second sound travels more slowly – at the speed of sound.
The time between the ‘crack’ and the ‘bang’ tells you how far away the gun is from the microphone. If the gun is far away, there’s a bigger gap between the two sounds. If it’s close, the gap is much shorter.
Another expert, Steven Beck of Beck Audio Forensics, estimated the distance of the first few gunshots to “around 40 metres”.
He added that the first audible shots are “most likely military rifles or carbines firing supersonic bullets that pass close to the recorder – meaning they are being fired at”.
Analysis suggests a reduction in the crack-pop timing from 72 to 20 ms. This indicates that the second shot is fired from a closer range. Picture – Robert Mayer
Both forensic audio experts told us that as the video continues, the gunshots appear much closer – at a distance ranging between 12 and 18 metres. They explain that the “crack-bang” timing reduces in comparison to the start of the gunfire – indicating that the distance shortens.
Mr Beck said at the end of the video “there are more shockwaves followed by muzzle blasts. The shooter(s) at these times is much closer, with distances of 12m – 18m”.
Due to the overlapping gunshots heard in the video, from the audio it is not currently possible to rule out whether gunshots were fired back.
Prior to the attack, the ambulance from which the video is filmed had been searching for a group of paramedics who reported that they had been attacked by Israeli troops.
The ambulance travelled from southern Rafah up to the coast, before performing a U-turn and joining a convoy of other emergency vehicles.
The shooting began as the convoy arrived at the scene of the first attack.
In a statement to Sky News, the IDF said it is “conducting an inquiry into the incident, which took place in a combat zone, to uncover the truth.
“All the claims raised regarding the incident will be examined and presented in a detailed and thorough manner for a decision on how to handle the event.”
The IDF also says that six of the individuals killed were later identified as “Hamas terrorists”, though no evidence has been provided to support this claim.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
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Why Putin has suddenly offered an ‘Easter truce’ in Ukraine – and the interesting way it’s being presented
Well it is something, but it’s by no means everything – a ceasefire for 30 hours, not 30 days.
This feels like a diplomatic dance, rather than a military, or moral, manoeuvre.
An Easter truce – announced by Vladimir Putin on Saturday – is significant in the sense that, if it holds, it’ll be the first actual cessation of hostilities since the war began.
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And it’s significant in the sense that it’s the first actual concession made by Moscow since Donald Trump initiated peace negotiations two months ago.
But – and there’s always a “but” when it comes to the Kremlin – how much of a concession is it really? And how much difference will it make militarily?
It’s nowhere near what the White House has been asking for, and it’s nowhere near what Ukraine has previously consented to.
The American president’s first proposal was a full 30-day ceasefire. Kyiv agreed but Moscow didn’t, not without conditions.
Then there was the attempted maritime truce. Again, Moscow’s agreement came with strings attached, in the form of sanctions relief, so it never got off the ground.
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Ukraine: Michael Clarke Q&A
So why suddenly suggest a truce now?
America had made no secret of its growing frustration at the lack of progress in peace negotiations.
Trump threatened to “take a pass” on attempts to reach an agreement on Friday after his secretary of state said the US might “walk away”.
I don’t think that in itself would be a problem for Russia, given its military dominance. But I think it could be a problem if Trump blames Putin for the lack of progress, and then pulls the plug on their thaw in relations as well.
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Trump blames Zelenskyy for war
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So this feels like Putin is giving Trump just enough to keep him on side, without actually making any major concession.
And the way it’s being presented is interesting too – at Russia’s initiative, on humanitarian grounds, Ukraine must “follow our example”.
He’s trying to cast himself as the peacemaker in the eyes of the US president – as the one who give solutions, not problems – which appears contrary to Trump’s opinion of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 90 people in the past 48 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory has said.
Women and children were among 15 people who were killed overnight on Friday in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital staff.
At least 11 of those who were killed were sheltering in a tent in the designated humanitarian zone of al Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living, the hospital workers said.
A further four people were killed in separate strikes on the city of Rafah, including a mother and her daughter, according to Gaza’s European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
Mourners at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
Israel – which has not commented publicly on the latest strikes – has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy large “security zones” inside the area.
It says this is to put pressure on Hamas to release more hostages and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory.
For weeks, Israeli troops have also blockaded Gaza, barring the entry of food and other goods.
Last month, 15 aid workers were killed and buried in a shallow grave after being fired upon by Israeli troops.
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Sky reveals timeline of IDF’s Gaza aid attack
Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
The group says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.
Hamas’s armed wing said the fate of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander was unknown after a guard who was holding him was found killed.
On Tuesday, Hamas said it had lost contact with a group of militants holding Mr Alexander in Gaza.
Earlier this week, the United Nations warned that almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people is relying on the one million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens.
Read more:
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People at a hospital in Khan Younis mourn the deaths of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes earlier this week. Pic: Reuters
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house. Pic: Reuters
The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets, but rising prices make them unaffordable for most, according to the World Food Programme. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, called it Gaza’s “worst humanitarian crisis” since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023.
Dr Hanan Balkhy, head of the World Health Organisation’s eastern Mediterranean office, urged the new US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push Israel to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter the strip.
“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation first hand,” she said on Friday.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee places a handwritten note in Jerusalem. Pic: Reuters
In his first appearance as ambassador, Mr Huckabee visited the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Huckabee said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining Israeli hostages.
Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Two Britons killed in a cable car crash near Naples have been named by Italian media.
Graeme Derek Winn, 65, and his wife Margaret Elaine Winn, 58, were among four people – including an Israeli woman and an Italian man, the cable car operator – who died in the incident on Thursday, which officials said happened after the cable snapped.
The only survivor, a second Israeli tourist, was in a stable but critical condition, the Naples hospital treating him said on Friday.
Ms Winn was initially named by Italian media as Margaret Elaine Winn, but it is understood she was known as Elaine.
Graeme Derek Winn and his wife Margaret Elaine Winn. Pic: Facebook
The couple were described as “good friends” by Chris Mann, who posted on social media saying they were “enjoying retirement with lots of motorbike tours and holidays”.
“How incredibly sad,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.”
Nine passengers were helped out of a separate cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident.
They were freed one by one in a difficult operation using harnesses, footage on RAI television and other media showed.
Officials said a cable snapped, causing the crash, south of Naples, Italy. Pic: CNSAS
Rescuers and emergency services at the scene. Pic: AP
Italy’s alpine rescue, along with firefighters, police and civil protection services, responded to the incident.
It occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. It averages around 110,000 visitors each year.
People being rescued from a second cable car that became stuck after the incident
Umberto De Gregorio, chairman of the EAV public transport company that runs the Mount Faito cable car, described the incident as “a tragedy” and said the service would remain shut “for a long time” following the crash.
He told Sky News the cause of the incident was being investigated, and that before its reopening, the cable car service had undergone three months of tests with checks carried out every morning.
“Everything we had to do was done,” he said.
“Evidently something went wrong, we don’t know what, whether an exceptional unforeseen event or human error. The investigators will discover all this.”
He added: “Furthermore, I knew very well one of the four victims, our employee. He is the brother of my driver – who is also my friend, since we lived together practically every day.
“I knew him and yesterday I saw his heartbroken wife, we hugged each other. There is so much emotion.”
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The UK Foreign Office said: “We are dealing with an incident in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities. Our thoughts are with those affected.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences for the victims and their families and said she was in touch with rescuers. She spoke from Washington, where she was meeting US President Donald Trump.
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