The Palestine Crimson Crescent Society (PRCS) has referred to as for an impartial worldwide inquiry into the “deliberate killing” of 15 medical and humanitarian employees in an assault by Israeli forces in Gaza.
In a press release on Monday, the group stated the March 23 assault in Gaza’s southern metropolis of Rafah “constitutes a full-fledged warfare crime, and it displays a harmful sample of repeated violation of worldwide humanitarian regulation”.
PRCS President Younis al-Khatib stated an impartial fee is required “to determine the information and maintain these accountable accountable”.
Israeli forces opened hearth on the medics, who had been driving in ambulances to help wounded folks on the web site of an earlier Israeli assault.
A video recently recovered from the mobile phone of one of many medics confirmed their closing moments. The medics had been carrying extremely reflective uniforms and had been inside clearly identifiable rescue autos earlier than they had been shot by Israeli forces in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood.
In response to the PRCS, the convoy got here beneath heavy gunfire for about 5 minutes. It stated communication between the staff and the central dispatch centre “confirms that the gunfire continued for a minimum of two hours” with steady taking pictures heard till contact was utterly misplaced with one of many medics.
This has additionally been confirmed by one survivor, who stated the ambulances got here beneath direct hearth with no warning, in keeping with al-Khatib. The survivor additionally stated he was utilized by Israeli officers as a “human defend” earlier than having the ability to escape.
“It’s now not enough to talk of respecting the worldwide regulation and Geneva Conference,” al-Khatib instructed reporters from el-Bireh within the occupied West Financial institution. “It’s now required from the worldwide neighborhood and the UN Safety Council to implement the mandatory punishment in opposition to all who’re accountable.”
‘Who’s telling the reality?’
Al-Khatib additionally referred to as on the worldwide neighborhood to safeguard support employees and stop the focusing on of hospitals, medical centres and ambulances.
He additionally requested that Israel disclose the whereabouts of the PRCS workers who’re nonetheless lacking.
The PRCS misplaced eight of its employees within the assault. Six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence company and an worker of the United Nations company for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, had been additionally killed.
The Israeli army had claimed its troopers “didn’t randomly assault” any ambulances, insisting they fired on “terrorists” approaching them in “suspicious autos”.
“A number of uncoordinated autos had been recognized advancing suspiciously towards [Israeli army] troops with out headlights or emergency indicators,” it stated.
However al-Khatib refuted this declare, saying the ambulances had emergency lights on.
“We at PRCS have been accustomed to Israel’s false allegations and fabricated tales close to what goes on within the Gaza Strip,” al-Khatib stated.
“We imagine that the entire world, together with media representatives, has now come to understand who’s telling the reality,” he added.
🚨Palestine Crimson Crescent Society Requires Unbiased Worldwide Investigation to Maintain These Chargeable for the Crime of Focusing on Ambulance Groups in Rafah Accountable
The Palestine Crimson Crescent Society (PRCS) affirms that the focusing on of its ambulance convoy by Israeli… pic.twitter.com/yvTUxnOLAm— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 7, 2025
In its assertion, the PRCS stated the realm was not labeled as a “crimson zone” on the time of the emergency response, which implies no prior coordination was required to entry the positioning.
It stated for a number of days after that, Israeli forces prevented rescue groups from accessing the realm beneath the pretext that it was a “crimson zone”.
Then solely restricted entry was granted, throughout which PRCS groups recovered the physique of a Civil Defence member earlier than Israeli forces compelled the rescue staff to withdraw, it stated.
On March 30, the our bodies of 14 others were discovered in a “mass grave in a brutal and degrading method that violates human dignity”, the PRCS added.
The assault was decried by the Civil Defence, Gaza’s Authorities Media Workplace, Hamas and UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, who stated the incident raises concern over potential “warfare crimes” by the Israeli army.
In the meantime, Tom Fletcher, head of the UN Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that since Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza on March 18 and resumed its warfare on the enclave, Israeli air assaults have hit “densely populated areas” with “sufferers killed of their hospital beds, ambulances shot at, first responders killed”.
In response to UNRWA, at the least 408 support employees, together with greater than 280 UNRWA workers members, have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza because the warfare started on October 7, 2023.
Gaza’s Ministry of Well being stated that since March 18, at the least 921 folks have been killed within the territory, including to the greater than 50,000 killed because the warfare started – most of them kids and ladies.
The violence pushed the heads of six UN businesses to name on Monday for a right away renewal of the ceasefire that Israel unilaterally broke and the re-entry of humanitarian support into Gaza.
