The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of 14 workers in Rafah. Photo: supplied
The medics who were killed were identified as Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Sha’at, Saleh Moammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammad Behloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammad Al-Hila, and Raed Al-Sharif.
Originally published in Palestine Chronicle.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its condemnation on Sunday after eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), five first responders from the Gaza Civil Defense, and a UN staff member were killed while on duty in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
PRCS said it was “devastated” by the killing of the medics who “were targeted by the Israeli occupation forces while performing their humanitarian duties.”
In a statement, the organization said the medics were heading to the Hashashin area of Rafah to provide first aid to several Palestinians who were injured by Israeli shelling in the area.
Ninth Medic Missing
“A ninth medic remains missing,” PRCS noted, adding that the bodies of six members of the civil defense and one UN staff member were also recovered from the same area.
The medics who were killed were identified as Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Sha’at, Saleh Moammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammad Behloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammad Al-Hila, and Raed Al-Sharif.
“This massacre of our team is a tragedy not only for us at the Palestine Red Crescent Society, but also for humanitarian work and humanity,” the PRCS stated.
‘War Crime’
“The occupation’s targeting of Red Crescent medics, despite the protected status of their mission and the Red Crescent emblem, 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,” the statement added.
The organization said, “The world has thus failed to take serious steps to prevent the occupation from continuing these flagrant violations of international law and conventions against health and humanitarian workers.”
It demanded that “the perpetrators of this war crime be held accountable” and that an “immediate and urgent investigation” be conducted to ensure justice for the victims of this massacre.”
PRCS also demanded that the whereabouts of the missing medic, identified as Asaad al-Nasasra, be revealed.
27 Killed since Oct 7
With the latest killing, the number of PRCS members killed by the Israeli army has risen to 27 since the start of the genocidal assault on Gaza in October 2023.
The ICRC, meanwhile, said in its statement that for 17 months, medical staff and first responders in Gaza have been responding to unimaginable suffering day after day, and many have been killed in the course of their work.
“The high number of medical personnel killed during this conflict is devastating,” the organization stated, adding that it “strongly condemns attacks on health care workers.”
“They must be able to carry out their work safely. International humanitarian law is clear: medical personnel, ambulances, humanitarian relief personnel, and civil defense organizations must be respected and protected,” said ICRC.
The organization reiterated its call for all information to be made available “to clarify the fate of those individuals remaining missing.”
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