/un-recovers-15-aid-workers-bodies-in-ga

Gaza : le Croissant-Rouge dit avoir retrouvé au moins 15 secouristes tués après des tirs israéliens sur des ambulances
RFI – Publié le : 30/03/2025
▻https://www.rfi.fr/fr/en-bref/20250330-gaza-le-croissant-rouge-dit-avoir-retrouv%C3%A9-14-secouristes-tu%C3%A9

Le Croissant-Rouge palestinien affirme avoir retrouvé dimanche 30 mars au moins quinze secouristes tués après des tirs israéliens il y a une semaine sur des ambulances dans le sud de la bande de Gaza. Un premier bilan publié plus tôt avait fait état de 14 secouristes tués.

« Le nombre de corps récupérés s’élève à quinze à ce jour dont huit ambulanciers des équipes du Croissant-Rouge palestinien, six membres de la Défense civile et un employé de l’agence des Nations unies », a indiqué l’organisation médicale dans un communiqué. Elle fait référence à des équipes dont le Croissant-Rouge et la Défense civile s’étaient dit sans nouvelles depuis que des soldats israéliens aient tiré sur des ambulances le 23 mars.

PRCS: “Paramedics Found Dead In Southern Gaza Were Bound, Executed”
Mar 31, 2025| - IMEMC News
▻https://imemc.org/article/prcs-paramedics-found-dead-in-southern-gaza-were-bound-executed

https://imemc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Tel-Al-Sultan-ambulance-crew-e1743343804427.jpeg

On Sunday evening, medical sources in Gaza confirmed that the bodies of paramedics recovered from the Tal Sultan area in Rafah, located in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, were found bound.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that 14 bodies were recovered in Rafah, comprising eight PRCS paramedics, five Civil Defense rescue workers, and one United Nations agency employee. One PRCS paramedic remains missing. These individuals had been unaccounted for since coming under intense fire a week earlier.

The PRCS reported that its medics had headed to the Tal Sultan area to assist trapped and injured civilians when Israeli forces opened fire, preventing them from carrying out their mission.

In a statement, the PRCS detailed how teams from the organization, along with personnel from OCHA, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Civil Defense, conducted a recovery operation in Tel Sultan to locate the missing responders.

During a press conference, the PRCS held Israeli authorities fully accountable for the safety and lives of its paramedics, asserting that targeting humanitarian workers constitutes a deliberate violation of International Humanitarian Law.

The PRCS stated that 34 ambulances have been targeted and rendered inoperable since hostilities commenced on October 7, 2023.
(...)
Efforts to retrieve the bodies were hampered by challenging conditions, including burials under sandy terrain, with some corpses showing signs of decomposition.
The PRCS paid tribute to its paramedics: Mustafa Khafaja, Izzeldin Sha’at, Saleh Moammar, Rifat Radwan, Mohammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Lebda, Mohammad Al-Heila, and Raed Al-Sharif .
The PRCS stated that the total number of PRCS personnel killed since October 7, 2023, has risen to 27.
“This horrific event marks not only a tragedy for the Palestinian Red Crescent but also a profound blow to humanitarian efforts and the very essence of humanity,” the PRCS stated. (...)

Bodies of missing aid workers found in Gaza ‘mass grave’ following Israeli attacks
▻https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/31/middleeast/aid-workers-found-gaza-mass-grave-intl-hnk/index.html

The bodies of more than a dozen aid workers have been recovered in southern Gaza from what a United Nations agency described as a “mass grave,” a week after they went missing following attacks by Israeli forces.

Eight of the 14 bodies recovered Sunday from the site in the southern Rafah area were identified as members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), five as civil defense, and one as a UN agency employee, PRCS said in a statement. One PRCS medic remains missing.

The body of a fifteenth person, a civil defense worker, was recovered last Thursday from the site, after PRCS said they were initially denied access to the area.

UN Humanitarian
@UNOCHA
2:02 PM · 31 mars 2025

🔴 #Gaza: Rescue teams found the bodies of 15 emergency responders - from @PalestineRCS, Civil Defense and @UN

Their ambulances were hit by Israeli forces. “They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave.”

These abhorrent acts require accountability.

▻https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1906678363755876352/vid/avc1/1080x1080/iGOkEOteFzkU70os.mp4?tag=16

Gaza medics killed by Israel found handcuffed and shot in mass grave
By MEE staff | 31 March 2025 | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bodies-gaza-medics-found-handcuffed-and-shot-mass-grave

Israeli forces have been accused of executing handcuffed Palestinian medics before burying them in a mass grave underneath their crushed ambulances in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

Fifteen humanitarian workers went missing last week after responding to a distress call from civilians being attacked by Israeli forces.

The workers include eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence search-and-rescue teams, and one UN staff member.

They were found over the weekend in a mass grave with at least around 20 multiple gunshots in each one of them, according to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.

At least one of them had their legs bound, another was decapitated and a third topless, he added. (...)

▻https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/31/us-blames-hamas-for-israeli-execution-of-palestinian-medics

The State Department on Monday blamed Hamas when asked about the Israeli execution of 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers who were recovered from a mass grave in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The 15 workers included eight members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, five Civil Defense workers, and one UN staffer. Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs Office (OCHA) in Palestine, said the evidence indicated that the first responders were shot and killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried along with their ambulances and other vehicles.

“We’re digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave,” Whittall said. “These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There’s a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer – Israeli forces bulldozer – has buried them.”

When asked about the comments from the UN, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce immediately blamed Hamas. “I can tell you that for too long, Hamas has abused civilian infrastructure, cynically using it to shield themselves. Hamas’s actions have caused humanitarians to be caught in the crossfire,” she said.

When pressed on whether the US would assess the situation since there’s a chance Israeli forces used American weapons, Bruce said, “Every single thing that is happening in Gaza is happening because of Hamas. Every single dynamic.”

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, each recovered body was hit with around 20 gunshots. “Israeli occupation forces brutally, savagely executed the Civil Defense teams,” said PRCS spokesman Mahmoud Basal.

The Israeli military has acknowledged its forces opened fire on ambulances in Rafah but claimed it was a mistake. The IDF claimed its forces took out Hamas militants during the incident and killed a Hamas operative named Mohammed Amin Shobaki. However, the IDF offered no evidence, and no other bodies were recovered at the scene.

Israël / Territoires palestiniens - Attaque contre des secouristes du Croissant rouge palestinien et de la défense civile palestinienne (1er avril 2025)
▻https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/israel-territoires-palestiniens/actualites-et-evenements/2025/article/israel-territoires-palestiniens-attaque-contre-des-secouristes-du-cr

La France exprime son émotion après la découverte des dépouilles de quinze secouristes du Croissant rouge palestinien (PRCS) et de la défense civile palestinienne, le 30 mars, décédés dans le cadre d’une opération militaire israélienne une semaine plus tôt alors qu’ils venaient porter assistance à des blessés.

La protection des travailleurs humanitaires, qui ont déjà payé un lourd tribut à Gaza, doit être garantie en toutes circonstances, conformément au droit international.

La France présente ses condoléances aux familles des victimes et au Croissant rouge palestinien, partenaire du ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères, pour sa réponse humanitaire d’urgence dans les Territoires palestiniens.

Une enquête approfondie devra faire toute la lumière sur ces tirs.

#émotion quant au #génocide #FranceDiplo

UN Recovers 15 Aid Workers’ Bodies in Gaza, Say Some Found Bound and Shot
▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-04-01/ty-article/.premium/un-recovers-15-aid-workers-bodies-in-gaza-say-some-found-bound-and-shot/00000195-f2f1-ddf6-a7f5-f2fbdc9e0000

Rescue teams say some victims had their hands tied and were shot at close range, suggesting they were executed. The IDF claims some of those killed were militants and says the vehicles were moving ’suspiciously’

Nir Hasson Liza Rozovsky Jack Khoury | Apr 1, 2025 | Haaretz

(...) One rescuer on site told Haaretz that one of the bodies was found with its legs bound, reinforcing suspicions that some of the aid workers may have been executed. On Sunday, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said that some of the workers were found with their hands tied.
Dr. Bashar Murad, the head of health programs for the Red Crescent in Gaza, told The Guardian on Monday that the autopsy of the bodies clearly showed that the rescue workers were shot in the upper parts of their bodies and were then put into a pit, one on top of another.
Murad added that one of the paramedics in the convoy was on the phone with other rescue workers at the ambulance station during the attack.
“He informed us that he was wounded and requested assistance, and that another person was also wounded,” Murad said. A few minutes later, he added, the rescue team heard Israeli soldiers arriving, speaking in Hebrew. The troops talked about gathering the rescue workers and using restraints to tie them. According to Murad, this indicates that at least some of the rescue team members were still alive at that point.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense, said in an interview with Radio Al-Shams that some of the victims were executed outside their vehicles.
“Our personnel and those of the Red Crescent were found in a single pit, about two to three meters [seven to nine feet] deep, far from their vehicles,” he said. “This indicates that the rescue teams were removed from their cars.”
According to Basal, there is evidence showing that one of the team members was barefoot and another had been stripped of their clothing. He added that one of the bodies had at least 20 bullets in the chest and that their vests and clothing were visibly perforated. (...)

Israël a tué 15 auxiliaires médicaux et secouristes, un par un, disent les Nations Unies
31 mars 2025 | Julian Borger| Lorenzo Tondo| Malak A Tantesh | The Guardian | Traduction CG pour l’AURDIP
source
▻https://aurdip.org/israel-a-tue-15-auxiliaires-medicaux-et-secouristes-un-par-un-disent-les-nat

Des travailleurs en mission pour aider des collègues ont été enterrés dans une fosse commune au sud de Gaza, dit le bureau humanitaire. (...)

Video Shows Aid Workers Killed in Gaza Under Gunfire Barrage,…
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/1107944

https://seenthis.net/local/cache-vignettes/L600xH314/04-aid-worke2942-e6239.jpg

The video appears to contradict Israel’s version of the incident, which described the vehicles as “advancing suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals.