Middle East: Video contradicts IDF on aid workers' deaths

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the footage shows ambulances driving with emergency lights on, contradicting the Israeli military's account that it opened fire on suspicious vehicles.

A video released by the Palestinian Red Crescent has cast doubt over the Israeli military's account of the killing of 15 paramedics and civilian defense workers in Gaza.

The video, shared by the rescue service on X, shows clearly marked ambulances and a fire engine driving with their headlights and blue emergency lights switched on.

The Israeli military said at the time that its forces had opened fire on several vehicles after they suspiciously approached troops without coordination or headlights.

Israeli officials said the soldiers had killed members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In other news, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to visit the White House on Monday to discuss the Gaza war and tariffs with US President Donald Trump.

Here is a roundup of developments in Israel, Gaza, and the wider Middle East on Saturday, April 5:

Netanyahu to meet Trump over tariffs — report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday, four Israeli officials and a White House official said on Saturday.

The impromptu in-person visit could mark the first by a foreign leader to try to negotiate a deal to remove tariffs announced by Trump this week.

As part of the "reciprocal" tariff plan, Israeli goods entering the United States will be slapped with a 17% tariff.

Israel had already moved to cancel its remaining tariffs on around just 2% of US imports.

One of the officials said the talks would also focus on Turkey's growing influence in neighboring Syria, tensions with Iran and the conflict in Gaza.

Netanyahu's office has yet to confirm the visit with Israel's closest ally and largest single trading partner. The Israeli leader has been in Hungary this week, defying an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the Gaza war.

Israel sends troops to new Gaza security corridor

Israel says troops have deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza to ramp up the pressure on the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hamas is considered a terror group by not only Israel, but also the US, Germany and some other countries.

A military statement said troops with the 36th Division had been deployed to the new Morag Corridor, which is due to cut off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of the territory.

It was not immediately clear how many soldiers had deployed or where exactly the corridor was located.

Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the corridor would run between the two cities.

He said Morag would be "a second Philadelphi corridor," referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May.

Israel has also reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the territory.

Both earlier corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.

Aid agency: Video shows moments before Gaza aid workers' deaths

Video footage appears to contradict Israel's claim that the vehicles carrying 15 Palestinian medics killed in southern Gaza last month did not have emergency lights flashing, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The aid agency said the video, posted to X, was recovered from the cell phone of aid worker Rifat Radwan. It shows the medics' moments, with clearly marked ambulances and emergency lights flashing as heavy gunfire erupts.

The nearly 7-minute video, apparently filmed from inside a moving vehicle, captures a red firetruck and ambulances driving through the night amid constant automatic gunfire.

The vehicles stop beside another on the roadside, and two uniformed men get out, the Red Crescent said.

The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge from the vehicles and head toward a stricken ambulance, which had come under attack earlier.

Seconds later, a volley of gunfire breaks out and the screen goes black.

"This video unequivocally refutes the occupation's claims that Israeli forces did not randomly target ambulances and that some vehicles had approached suspiciously without lights or emergency markings," the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement. "The footage exposes the truth and dismantles this false narrative."

Those killed included eight Red Crescent staff, six members of the Gaza civil defense agency and a worker of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The Israeli military has said its soldiers "did not randomly attack" any ambulances, insisting they fired on "terrorists" approaching them in "suspicious vehicles."

Welcome to our coverage

Welcome to 's coverage on the latest developments in the Middle East.

This blog will bring you the latest news, analysis and multimedia content on events in the region.