Palestine Red Crescent says 15 bodies found in search for missing Gaza crew

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is outraged at the deaths of eight medics from Palestine Red Crescent Society, killed on duty in Gaza.

An emergency medical team of nine disappeared along with their ambulances when they came under heavy fire in Al-Hashashin on 23 March. After seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen, the bodies of 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 were retrieved today (30 March). Ambulance officer Assad Al-Nassasra is still missing.

IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said: “I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not.”

“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.

“Our network is in mourning, but this is not enough. Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: ‘When will this stop? All parties must stop the killing, and all humanitarians must be protected.’”

This devastating incident represents the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017.

Chapagain added: “The number of Palestine Red Crescent volunteers and staff killed since the start of this conflict is now 30. We stand with Palestine Red Crescent and the loved ones of those killed on this darkest of days.”

For more information or to request an interview, please contact: media [at] ifrc.org

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The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says 15 bodies have been found in Rafah, southern Gaza, a week after its first responders came under heavy fire from Israeli forces.

IFRC condemns the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent medics in Gaza
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/30/palestine-red-crescent-says-missing-gaza-crew-either-dead-or-detained

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says 15 bodies have been found in Rafah, southern Gaza, a week after its first responders came under heavy fire from Israeli forces.

The PRCS said on Sunday that eight of the bodies have been identified as PRCS members, six as members of the Civil Defence, and one as a UN agency employee. One PRCS first responder is still missing.

The group said 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 occupation’s targeting of Red Crescent medics … can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world.”

In an earlier statement the Red Crescent said the bodies “were recovered with difficulty as they were buried in the sand, with some showing signs of decomposition”.

PRCS President Younis al-Khatib condemned Israel for targeting its paramedics as they “fulfil their humanitarian mission”.

“Those souls are not mere numbers. If this incident [happened] anywhere else, the whole world would have moved heaven and earth to expose this war crime,” al-Khatib said on Sunday.

Last week, the Israeli military told the AFP news agency that it had fired on ambulances and fire trucks – calling them “suspicious vehicles” – that arrived at a scene where it was carrying out attacks.

Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim slammed the attack on the ambulance and said 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”.

OCHA chief Tom Fletcher said since Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza on March 18 and resumed its war on the enclave, Israeli air attacks have hit “densely populated areas”, with “patients killed in their hospital beds, ambulances shot at, first responders killed”.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that since Israel resumed its attacks, at least 921 people have been killed in the territory, adding to the more than 50,000 killed since October 7, 2023.