Fifteen Palestinian paramedical paramedics and rescuers, including at least one United Nations employees, were killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried in a mass eight days ago in the south of Gaza, said the UN.
According to the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Bureau (OCHA), the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) and civil defense workers were on a mission to save colleagues who had been killed earlier in the day, when their clearly marked vehicles suffered heavy Israeli fires in the District of Tel-Sultan of Rafah City. An official of the Red Crescent in Gaza said that there were evidence of at least one detained and killed person, because the body of one of the dead had been found with his linked hands.
The shots took place on March 23, one day after the Israeli offensive renewed in the region near the Egyptian border. Another worker of the Red Crescent at the Mission is missing.
Jonathan Whittall, the OCHA chief in Palestine, said in a video press release: “Seven days ago, the ambulances of civil and PRC defense arrived on the scene. One by one, they were struck, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this serious mass.”
“We dig them in their uniforms, with their gloves. They were there to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass tomb,” said Whittall. “These ambulances were buried in the sand. There is a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer – Israeli Bulldozer forces – buried them. “
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Rescue Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said one of his employees was among the dead found in Rafah.
“The body of our colleague killed in Rafah was recovered yesterday, with the humanitarian workers of (the Palestinian Red Crescent) – all rejected in shallow tombs – a deep violation of human dignity,” wrote Lazzarini in an article on social media.
The Israeli army said that his “initial evaluation” of the incident revealed that his troops had opened fire on several vehicles “advancing FDI troops with suspicion without headlights or emergency signals”.
He added that the vehicle movement had not been coordinated with the Israel Defense forces (FDI) in advance, and that the area was an “active combat zone”. The Red Crescent said that the district of such al-Sultan had been considered safe and that the movement was normal, “requiring any coordination”.
The FDIs also claimed to have killed nine activists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad.
The FDI was approached to comment on the reports on the relationships that paramedical paramedics and rescuers were buried in a mass tomb at the scene of the shooting. He did not specify if she alleged that the activists he claimed to have killed had been in the ambulances of the Red Crescent or had been killed during an air strike on Rafah earlier in the night.
According to the Red Crescent, an ambulance was sent to harvest the victims of the air strike in the early hours of March 23 and called for a support ambulance. The first ambulance arrived at the hospital safely, but the contact was lost with the support ambulance at 3:30 am. A first report on the scene said it had been shot down and that the two paramedical paramedics inside had been killed.
A convoy of five vehicles, including ambulances, civil defense trucks and two cars from the Ministry of Health, were sent to recover the bodies. This convoy was then criticized, and the Red Crescent said that most of the dead came from this attack. Eight of the dead were the Red Crescent, six of the Civil Defense and a UN employee.
Dr. Bashar Murad, director of health programs for the Red Crescent, said one of the paramedical paramedics of the convoy was on call to his colleagues at the ambulance station when the attack took place.
“He informed us that he had been injured and asked for help, and that another person had also been injured,” said Murad. “A few minutes later, during the call, we heard the sound of Israeli soldiers arriving on the spot, speaking in Hebrew. The conversation consisted in gathering the team, with statements like:” Gather them to the wall and bring constraints to attach them. “This said that a large number of medical staff were still alive.”
The president of the Palestinian Red Crescent, Younis al-Khatib, said that the FDI had hampered the collection of bodies for several days. The FDI said that it had facilitated the evacuation of bodies as soon as “operational circumstances” allowed.
“The bodies have been recovered with difficulties because they were buried in the sand, some showing signs of decomposition,” said the Red Crescent.
Their burial had been discouraged while waiting for the autopsies, said Murad.
“What is certain and very clear is that they were killed in the upper parts of their body, then gathered in one hole one above the other, with sand thrown on them and buried,” he said. He said that the body of one of the victims had been recovered from the grave with his always tied hands. The complaint could not be confirmed independently.
Whittall described the mission of recovering bodies as heavy.
“While traveling in the region on the fifth day, we met hundreds of civilians fleeing under gunshots,” said Whittall. “We witnessed a woman slaughtered at the back of the head. When a young man tried to recover it, he too was shot. We were able to recover your body using our UN vehicle. ”
“It’s an absolute horror what happened here,” he added. “It should never happen. Health agents should never be a target. “
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the OCHA in Geneva, said: “The available information indicates that the first team was killed by Israeli forces on March 23, and that other emergency and aid teams were struck one after the other for several hours while they were looking for their disappeared colleagues.
“They were buried under the sand, alongside their rugged emergency vehicles – clearly marked ambulances, a fire truck and a United Nations car.”
The Red Crescent appointed the employees killed on March 23 under the name of Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzédine Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Hilieh and Raed Al-Sharif. The incident was the deadliest attack on the workers of the Red Cross or Red Crescent since 2017, IFRC said.
“My heart is broken. These devoted ambulance workers responded to the wounded. They were humanitarian workers,” said IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain.
“They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked,” he added.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,060 health workers were killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza. It started after Hamas fighters stormed communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people. The global organization reduces its international staff in Gaza by a third party due to the security problems of staff.
