Those killed included eight Palestinian Red Crescent Society health workers, one UNRWA staff member, and six members of the Palestinian Civil Defense. One further PRCS paramedic remains missing.
Amnesty International has called for “an independent and impartial” investigation into the circumstances in which at least 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers were shot dead by Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip.
The workers were killed after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicles while on a mission to Rafah in southern Gaza, Amnesty said, reiterating calls for independent monitors to be granted immediate access to the enclave.
“The fact that they were killed while trying to rescue people is deeply distressing and an absolute tragedy,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns. “Medical personnel carrying out their humanitarian duties must be respected and protected in all circumstances.”
15 emergency & aid workers in Gaza – from @PalestineRCS, Palestinian Civil Defense and UN – were found buried by their wrecked & well-marked vehicles. Our condolences to their families.⁰⁰They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers & justice. https://t.co/TudYttukQF
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) March 31, 2025
Those killed included eight Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) health workers, one UNRWA staff member, and six members of the Palestinian Civil Defense. One further PRCS paramedic remains missing, Amnesty said.
“Deliberate attacks on medics and humanitarian workers were prohibited by international law and constitute war crimes,” Rosas stressed, adding that “These killings must be independently and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators must be held to account.”
The PRCS announced the discovery of the bodies on Sunday.
‘Agonizing 9-Day Search’
A member of the Palestinian Civil Defense interviewed by Amnesty International said the victims had travelled to the Hashashin area in Rafah on March 21 on a joint rescue mission by PRCS and the Palestinian Civil defense.
“They had gone to the area to provide assistance to several wounded people, including a PRCS medic, Mustafa Khafaja, who himself had been injured after going to the area to provide first aid to people injured as a result of Israeli shelling,” Amnesty said.
The PRCS crew had been missing for days before their bodies were found on March 30 in a mass grave “after an agonizing nine-day search.”
One of the paramedics was detained by Israeli forces and then released on March 23.
Israel’s ‘Inquiry’
According to Amnesty, the Israeli army said an initial inquiry found that its troops opened fire on vehicles it deemed “suspicious”, acknowledging that they had shot at Palestinian ambulances and fire trucks.
Israeli forces had been in full control of the area at the time, the rights group noted.
“Israel’s continued denial of entry to Gaza for forensic experts and independent investigators, including from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International will strengthen impunity and embolden perpetrators of war crimes from all parties,” Rosas said.
“Amnesty International’s research indicates Israel is responsible for war crimes and genocide in Gaza,” she stressed.
Defiance of ICJ
The official said Israeli authorities “must not be allowed to continue to obstruct investigations into atrocity crimes, in defiance of legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice.”
Mass execution of paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza
Israeli forces ambushed & executed 15 rescue workers, then buried them in a mass grave. A deliberate massacre. A war crime.
A thread on what happened
pic.twitter.com/eJCPxwlW7Y
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) April 2, 2025
“They must immediately allow for impartial and independent investigations to be carried out and vital evidence to be collected and stored by professional investigators, including those mandated by the UN and the ICC, as well as those working for Palestinian and international human rights organizations,” she added.
“Without such investigations Israel is denying victims any prospect for justice and reparation,” Rosas continued.
Israel’s ‘Brazen Defiance’
The Amnesty official emphasized that in light of Israel’s “brazen defiance of international law, including the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, states cannot continue to remain silent and inactive.”
She pointed out that states “have clear obligations to ensure Israel respects international humanitarian law and to bring an end to Israel’s genocide and other gross violations of international law against Palestinians.”
“Every day of inaction is costing lives in Gaza and further emboldens perpetrators,” Rosas stated.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
What would we expect from the ZioNazis, and the terrorists in the IDF? They’re all savages. Murderous child-killers, rapists, above the law because they claim to be Jewish. The illegal, immoral state of
” Israel ” is the worst thing that ever happened to the Jews.