The Israeli military has said that an initial investigation into the killing of 15 emergency workers in south Gaza last month showed that the incident occurred “due to a sense of threat”, Reuters reports.

It said it had identified six Hamas fighters as being in the vicinity during the incident in the city of Rafah.

In a statement, the military said it was conducting a more in depth investigation but the preliminary “inquiry indicated that the troops opened fire due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area”, and that six of the individuals killed “were identified as Hamas” fighters.