Fifteen Palestinian paramedics and rescue staff, together with not less than one United Nations worker, have been killed by Israeli forces “one after the other” and buried in a mass grave eight days in the past in southern Gaza, the UN has stated.
In line with the UN humanitarian affairs workplace (Ocha), the Palestinian Purple Crescent and civil defence staff have been on a mission to rescue colleagues who had been shot at earlier within the day, when their clearly marked automobiles got here beneath heavy Israeli hearth in Rafah metropolis’s Tel al-Sultan. A Purple Crescent official in Gaza stated that there was proof of not less than one particular person being detained and killed, because the physique of one of many lifeless had been discovered along with his fingers tied.
The shootings occurred on 23 March, at some point into the renewed Israeli offensive within the space near the Egyptian border. One other Purple Crescent employee on the mission is reported lacking.
Jonathan Whittall, head of Ocha in Palestine, stated in a video assertion: “Seven days in the past, civil defence and PRCS ambulances arrived on the scene. One after the other, they have been hit, they have been struck. Their our bodies have been gathered and buried on this mass grave.”
“We’re digging them out of their uniforms, with their gloves on. They have been right here to avoid wasting lives. As a substitute, they ended up in a mass grave,” Whittall stated. “These ambulances have been buried within the sand. There’s a UN automobile right here, buried within the sand. A bulldozer – Israeli forces bulldozer – has buried them.’’
Philippe Lazzarini, the top of the UN reduction company for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, stated that considered one of its workers was among the many lifeless present in Rafah.
“The physique of our colleague killed in Rafah was retrieved yesterday, along with the help staff from [the Palestinian Red Crescent] – all of them discarded in shallow graves – a profound violation of human dignity,” Lazzarini wrote in a social media publish.
Israel’s navy stated its “preliminary evaluation” of the incident discovered that its troops had opened hearth on a number of automobiles “advancing suspiciously towards IDF troops with out headlights or emergency alerts”.
It added that the motion of the automobile had not been coordinated with the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) prematurely, and that the realm was an “energetic fight zone”. The Purple Crescent stated the Tel al-Sultan district had been thought of protected, and motion there was regular, “requiring no coordination”.
The IDF additionally claimed to have killed 9 militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The IDF has been approached for additional touch upon the stories the paramedics and rescue staff have been buried in a mass grave on the scene of the capturing. It didn’t clarify whether or not it was alleging the militants it claimed to have killed had been within the Purple Crescent ambulances, or had been killed in an airstrike on Rafah earlier within the evening.
In line with the Purple Crescent, an ambulance was dispatched to select up the casualties from the airstrike within the early hours of 23 March and referred to as for a help ambulance. The primary ambulance arrived at hospital safely however contact was misplaced with the help ambulance at 3.30am. An preliminary report from the scene stated it had been shot at and the 2 paramedics inside had been killed.
A convoy of 5 automobiles, together with ambulances, civil defence vehicles and two vehicles from the well being ministry have been despatched to retrieve the our bodies. That convoy then got here beneath hearth, and the Purple Crescent stated many of the lifeless have been from that assault. Eight of the lifeless have been from the Purple Crescent, six from civil defence and one was a UN worker.
Dr Bashar Murad, the Purple Crescent’s director of well being programme, stated that one of many paramedics within the convoy was on a name to his colleagues on the ambulance station when the assault came about.
“He knowledgeable us that he was injured and requested help, and that one other particular person was additionally injured,” Murad stated. “A couple of minutes later, through the name, we heard the sound of Israeli troopers arriving on the location, talking in Hebrew. The dialog was about gathering the workforce, with statements like, ‘Collect them on the wall and produce some restraints to tie them.’ This indicated that a lot of the medical workers have been nonetheless alive.”
The Palestinian Purple Crescent president, Younis al-Khatib, stated the IDF had impeded the gathering of the our bodies for a number of days. The IDF stated it had facilitated the evacuation of our bodies as quickly as “operational circumstances” allowed.
“The our bodies have been recovered with problem as they have been buried within the sand, with some exhibiting indicators of decomposition,” the Purple Crescent stated.
Their burial had been postpone pending autopsies, Murad stated.
“What is definite and really clear is that they have been shot within the higher elements of their our bodies, then gathered in a gap one on prime of one other, with sand thrown over them and buried,” he stated. He stated the physique of one of many victims was recovered from the grave along with his fingers nonetheless tied. The declare couldn’t be independently confirmed.
Whittall described the mission to recovered the our bodies as fraught.
“Whereas travelling to the realm on the fifth day we encountered tons of of civilians fleeing beneath gunfire,” Whittall stated. “We witnessed a girl shot behind the top. When a younger man tried to retrieve her, he too was shot. We have been in a position to recuperate her physique utilizing our UN automobile.”
“It’s absolute horror what has occurred right here,” he added. “This could by no means occur. healthcare staff ought to by no means be a goal.”
Jens Laerke, an Ocha spokesperson in Geneva, stated: “The obtainable data signifies that the primary workforce was killed by Israeli forces on 23 March, and that different emergency and support crews have been struck one after one other over a number of hours as they searched for his or her lacking colleagues.
“They have been buried beneath the sand, alongside their wrecked emergency automobiles – clearly marked ambulances, a hearth truck and a UN automobile.”
The Purple Crescent named the staff killed on 23 March as Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Hilieh, and Raed Al-Sharif. The incident was the only most threatening assault on Purple Cross or Purple Crescent staff anyplace since 2017, the IFRC stated.
“I’m heartbroken. These devoted ambulance staff have been responding to wounded folks. They have been humanitarians,” stated the IFRC secretary basic, Jagan Chapagain.
“They wore emblems that ought to have protected them; their ambulances have been clearly marked,” he added.
In line with the United Nations, not less than 1,060 healthcare staff have been killed within the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza. That started after Hamas fighters stormed communities in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 folks. The worldwide physique is decreasing its worldwide workers in Gaza by a 3rd because of workers security issues.
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