Palestinian civil defense teams announced on Sunday that after eight days of coordination with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), they had recovered the bodies of 15 martyrs in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah, southern Gaza.

The victims, killed in an Israeli targeting, included civil defense personnel, Palestinian Red Crescent medics, and an employee for UNRWA.

Calls for accountability, investigation

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) issued a statement mourning the loss of eight of its paramedics, who were targeted by the Israeli occupation while performing their humanitarian duty of administering first aid to those wounded by Israeli bombardment. Another paramedic remains missing.

The organization condemned the massacre, calling it a tragedy for humanitarian work as a whole. It stressed that targeting medical teams—who carry the internationally recognized protective emblem, constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

The PRCS demanded that the international community hold the perpetrators accountable, urging an immediate investigation into the fate of the missing paramedic. The number of Palestinian Red Crescent medics killed by Israeli aggression has now risen to 27.

The organization reiterated its call for global humanitarian bodies to end Israeli violations against Palestinian medical teams, urging concrete action to stop Israeli crimes against both civilians and aid workers.

International protections for medics must be upheld

The Palestinian Ministry of Health also condemned the Israeli occupation’s targeting of medics, particularly after their bodies were found buried in a deep pit, showing gunshot wounds to the chest.

The ministry called on international organizations and UN bodies to urgently investigate the crime and hold the Israeli occupation accountable. It also emphasized the need for immediate protection for medical teams, ensuring their safe access to wounded civilians.

Furthermore, the ministry stressed the importance of enforcing international laws that protect humanitarian workers and allow them to provide life-saving services without threats or attacks by the Israeli occupation.

Hamas demands international prosecution of Israeli leaders

The Hamas Resistance movement strongly condemned the massacre of Palestinian medical and emergency workers, calling it the largest targeted attack on ambulance teams to date.

Hamas stated that the Israeli occupation continues to commit horrific crimes against civilians in Gaza, in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international law.

The movement called on the international community to take immediate action against these crimes and urged for Israeli leaders to be prosecuted in international courts for crimes against humanity.

Not an accident 

On March 24, an Israeli tank fired on a Red Crescent building in the al-Mawasi area of the southern Gaza Strip, Al-Aqsa TV reported on Monday. The broadcaster did not provide further details regarding the incident.

The reported attack comes amid ongoing Israeli strikes on the besieged Palestinian territory.

Later on Monday, Gaza's Civil Defense stated that it had lost contact with a team of six rescuers who were dispatched to Tal al-Sultan to respond to deaths and injuries, and on Friday, it reported that it found the body of the team leader and the rescue vehicles, which were completely destroyed.

On Saturday, the Israeli military admitted that it opened fire on ambulances in the Gaza Strip after alleging that the medical vehicles were "suspicious vehicles."

Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, asserted that "Israel" committed “a deliberate and brutal massacre against civil defence and Palestinian Red Crescent teams in the city of Rafah."

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