Red Cross 'outraged' over Israeli killing of eight medics on duty in Rafah

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said it is "outraged" at Israeli killing of eight medics while on duty in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IFRC said the eight medics were killed when an ambulance team came under heavy fire in al-Hashashin on March 23.

The victims' bodies were retrieved on Sunday after access was denied for a week. One of the medics in the 9-member ambulance team is still missing.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Sunday the those killed “were targeted by the Israeli occupation forces while performing their humanitarian duties as they were heading to the Hashashin area of Rafah to provide first aid to a number of people injured by Israeli shelling in the area."

The PRCS added that it had recovered the bodies of 15 rescuers, 8 from the Red Crescent, 6 from Gaza's civil defense agency, and one UN agency employee.

14 Gaza medics killed by Israeli military fire found in Rafah: Red Crescent

The Palestinian Red Crescent has recovered the bodies of 14 paramedics killed in Israeli military fire in Gaza one week ago.

The IFRC stated that the eight bodies of PRCS workers were retrieved "after seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen".

The humanitarian organization identified those killed as ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath, and first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan.

The organization added that ambulance officer Assad Al-Nassasra is still missing.

IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said he was "heartbroken" by the deaths of the humanitarian aid workers.

"I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians."

He pointed out that the ambulance had been clearly marked so the Israeli forces would not fire on them.

"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; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected."

In a statement, Dr Basem Naim, a senior Hamas leader and former Palestinian health minister, condemned the Israelis' attack, pointing out that rescue workers are protected under international humanitarian law.

The member of Hamas’s political bureau said it was “a deliberate and brutal massacre against civil defense and Palestinian Red Crescent teams in the city of Rafah.”

"The targeted killing of rescue workers … constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime," he stated.

Netanyahu resumes massacre of children, women in Gaza with Trump's green light

The Israeli regime has resumed deadly bombings of Gaza in outright continuation of its genocidal war and sheer violation of ceasefire.

The Israeli regime forces resumed the genocidal war against defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on March 18, after, what it termed as, Hamas’ turning down Washington’s proposals for extension of the ceasefire. 

This is while Hamas has been constantly engaging with Qatari and Egyptian mediators towards keeping up the ceasefire, despite the disruptive Israeli efforts.

Since then, more than 900 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.

The Israeli regime's war on Gaza started on 7 October 2023, after Palestinian fighter launched Al-Aqsa Flood operation in retaliation for intensified atrocities against them.

The Israelis' unleashed killing machine, since then, has launched a deadly campaign, killing more than 50,000 innocent Palestinians.

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