The UN accuses Israel of having killed 15 rescuers in Gaza

While Israeli forces advanced in the city of southern Gaza de Rafah before dawn last Sunday, an ambulance team decided to evacuate civilians injured by Israeli bombings. But the ambulance and its crew were affected on the way.

Several other ambulances and a fire truck went to the scene in the coming hours to save them, according to Palestine Red Crescent Society, such as a United Nations vehicle, the United Nations said. Seventeen people were sent in total.

Then they were all silent.

It took five days to the United Nations and the Red Crescent to negotiate with the Israeli army for a safe passage to search for the missing people. After receiving authorization, said UN officials, the recovery team found 15 dead, most of their bodies poured into a mass tomb.

On Sunday, the United Nations said that Israel had killed them – a rare accusation of the organization, which is generally cautious about the allocation of clear blame.

“They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives,” said UN humanitarian leader Tom Fletcher, on X. “We demand answers and justice.”

The Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations said that all those killed were humanitarian workers who should never have been attacked. The Red Crescent called the murders of war crime and demanded responsibility.