The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it was “indignant” from the death of eight doctors killed in service in Rafah in southern Gaza.
The ambulance team of nine people was subjected to heavy fire in Al-Hashashin on March 23, IFRC said. Their bodies were recovered Sunday after access was refused for a week. A doctor is always missing.
Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRC) said that the body of their staff had been discovered with those of six members of the Civil Defense Agency led by Hamas in Gaza and a UN employee.
They did not say who opened fire on the convoy – but Hamas blamed the Israeli defense forces for the attack. The BBC asked for comments from the IDF.
In Sunday’s declaration, the IFRC said that the eight PRC workers’ bodies had been recovered “after seven days of silence and have access to the Rafah area where they were seen for the last time”.
The organization has identified people killed as ambulance agents Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamemer and Ezzedine Shaath, and the first volunteer Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan.
He added that ambulance agent Assad al-Nassasra was “always missing”.
“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.
“Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules. These rules of international humanitarian law could not be clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarian workers must be protected. Health services must be protected.”
The FDI did not publicly comment on the declaration of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
The AFP news agency reported that on Saturday the Israeli army admitted that it had shot ambulances in the south of Gaza last Sunday after having identified them as “suspicious vehicles”.
Israeli troops had “opened fire to Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists,” the army said in a statement to AFP.
“A few minutes later, additional vehicles have advanced the troops with suspicion … The troops responded by pulling towards suspicious vehicles, eliminating a certain number of terrorists from Islamic jihad.”
The soldiers added that “after an initial investigation, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles … were ambulances and fire trucks”.
He also declared that there had been “repeated use” by “terrorist organizations in the Gaza ambulances band for terrorist purposes”.
The senior Hamas official, Naim, condemned the attack.
“The murder targeted by rescuers – who are protected by international humanitarian law – constitutes a blatant violation of Geneva conventions and a war crime,” he said.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after the first phase of a ceasefire that started in January ended, and negotiations on a second phase of the agreement stopped.
More than 900 people have since been killed by Israeli strikes in Gazasaid the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas.
The war was triggered when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and bringing 251 to Gaza as captives.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, said the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas in Gaza.
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