Red Cross ‘heartbroken' by suspected Israeli attack killing eight aid workers in Gaza
The medics were part of a nine-person ambulance crew from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and were killed on duty in the al-Hashashin area of Rafah on 23 March. Their bodies were retrieved on Sunday after days of restricted access to the area. One crew member remains missing.
The Red Cross did not apportion blame for the attack, while Hamas has accused Israel of killing the PRCS aid workers. Israel has not directly responded to the allegation but confirmed in a statement that its forces fired upon 'suspicious vehicles' that later turned out to be ambulances and fire trucks.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said all eight were wearing visible emblems and travelling in clearly marked ambulances.
"I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians," IFRC secretary-general Jagan Chapagain said.
"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."
Among the dead were ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath, as well as first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan. The PRCS said the bodies were found alongside six members of Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency and a United Nations staff member.
In a statement to AFP on Saturday, the Israeli military said its troops had "opened fire toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists" in southern Gaza.
"A few minutes afterward, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops... The troops responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists."
The military added that "after an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles... were ambulances and fire trucks".
Israel has previously accused Palestinian armed groups of using medical vehicles for 'terrorist purposes".
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim called the killings a war crime and a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
"The targeted killing of rescue workers – who are protected under international humanitarian law – constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime," he said.
The attack came after Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on 18 March, following the breakdown of a ceasefire agreement. Since then, more than 900 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
The war, now nearing its 17th month, began after Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The Gaza health ministry says more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
Meanwhile, US airstrikes continued around the Houthi-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa early on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring four others, according to Houthi officials. The new wave of attacks followed a warning by the rebel group that it would resume targeting Red Sea vessels over Israel's blockade on Gaza.
The strikes appear to be part of a broader shift in the US campaign, with American forces now targeting personnel and command sites in addition to missile launch positions. Houthi media reported that 59 people have been killed since the current round of strikes began on 15 March.
The US says its actions are aimed at protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, where renewed Houthi attacks have already sunk two vessels and killed four sailors.
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