The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) said it was “angry” when eight medical staff died in Rafa, southern Gaza.
On March 23, the nine-person ambulance team suffered a fierce attack in Al-Hashishin, the IFRC said. Their bodies were retrieved Sunday after the passage was denied. A doctor is still missing.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRC) said the bodies of their staff were found along with Hamas, Gaza – six members who run the civil defense agency and a UN employee.
They didn’t say who fired at the convoy – but Hamas blamed the attack on the IDF. The BBC has sought comments from IDF.
“Eight days of silence and seven days were rejected in the Rafa district where it last met,” the IFRC said in a statement on Sunday.
The group identified those killed as ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath, as well as first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Ashraf Abu abu Labda, ra al-Sharif al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan.
It added that ambulance officer Assad al-Nassasra was “still missing”.
“I’m heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers respond to the injured. They are humanitarians,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.
“They wear signs that should protect them; they clearly marked the ambulance.
“Even in the most complex areas of conflict, there are rules. The rules of these international humanitarian law are not clear – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected.”
IDF has not made public comments on the Red Cross and Red Crescent statements.
The Israeli military admitted to firing a gun at an ambulance in southern Gaza last Sunday because they identified it as a “suspicious vehicle.”
In a statement to AFP, the military said Israeli forces “started fire at Hamas cars and eliminated several Hamas terrorists.”
“A few minutes later, the additional vehicles were advancing suspiciously towards the troops… The troops opened fire on the suspicious vehicles, eliminating many Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”
“After initial inquiry, some suspicious vehicles were identified…ambulances and fire trucks,” the military added.
It also said that “the Gaza ambulance zone for terrorist purposes is reused.”
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, condemned the attack.
“Targeted killings of rescue personnel protected by international humanitarian law constitute a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention and war crimes,” he said.
After the end of the first phase of the ceasefire that began in January, Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 and negotiated in the second phase of the deal.
Hamas-The Ministry of Health, which operates, said more than 900 people have been killed on strike in Gaza since then by Israeli strikes.
The war was triggered when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and bringing 251 people back to Gaza as prisoners.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive that killed more than 50,000 Palestinians.
