Palestinian medic Razan al-Najar, who was killed by IDF fire during Hamas-organized riots near the Gaza border on June 1, does not appear to have been the deliberate target of IDF sniper fire, according to a New York Times probe into the shooting.
The incident, which took place during one of the weekly mass riots Hamas has orchestrated along the Gaza border since March, sparked a vast international backlash. The Palestinians claimed that Israeli forces intentionally killed Al-Najar, a claim the IDF denies.
In the days following the incident, the IDF reported that its own probe into Al-Najar's death showed that she had not been targeted by snipers but had been hit by Israeli bullets fired into a crowd of Palestinian protesters. The IDF also claimed that Al-Najar had thrown a smoke grenade at Israeli forces.
Maj. Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesman in Arabic, tweeted that Al-Najar was "not the angel of mercy Hamas propaganda is making her out to be."
An initial investigation into the incident found that a small number of bullets were fired and that "no shots were deliberately or directly aimed toward her," an IDF statement said.
In addition, at the end of October, the Military Advocate General's Office said it would open an inquest into al-Najar's death.
On Sunday, the New York Times published its review of the incident. The paper said that its staff had reviewed over 1,000 photos of the shooting, analyzed a 3-D model of the protest, and conducted interviews with dozens of witnesses and IDF commanders to ascertain how Najar met her death.
The Times probe found that the IDF sniper had fired into a crowd of rioters that included medics dressed in clearly visible white coats. According to the newspaper, none of the videos or photos of the incident indicates that Al-Najar posed any threat to the Israeli forces.
It called the shooting "reckless at best, and possibly a war crime." The phrase was picked up by news outlets as being the focus of the probe, despite the fact that the death of the medic was unintentional.
