On Sunday evening, medical sources in Gaza confirmed that the bodies of paramedics recovered from the Tal Sultan area in Rafah, located in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, were found bound.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that 14 bodies were recovered in Rafah, comprising eight PRCS paramedics, five Civil Defense rescue workers, and one United Nations agency employee. One PRCS paramedic remains missing. These individuals had been unaccounted for since coming under intense fire a week earlier.
The PRCS reported that its medics had headed to the Tal Sultan area to assist trapped and injured civilians when Israeli forces opened fire, preventing them from carrying out their mission.
In a statement, the PRCS detailed how teams from the organization, along with personnel from OCHA, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Civil Defense, conducted a recovery operation in Tel Sultan to locate the missing responders.
During a press conference, the PRCS held Israeli authorities fully accountable for the safety and lives of its paramedics, asserting that targeting humanitarian workers constitutes a deliberate violation of International Humanitarian Law.
The PRCS stated that 34 ambulances have been targeted and rendered inoperable since hostilities commenced on October 7, 2023.
The Red Crescent condemned what it described as ongoing atrocities against civilians, including the execution of medical, rescue, and media teams, highlighting these acts as grave breaches of International Law and basic human rights.
Medical sources revealed that several of the recovered bodies showed evidence of having been bound and shot in the chest before being buried in a concealed deep pit, indicating detention, binding, and execution.
One paramedic, Asaad Al-Nassasra, remains missing, and PRCS suspects he may have been abducted.
Efforts to retrieve the bodies were hampered by challenging conditions, including burials under sandy terrain, with some corpses showing signs of decomposition.
The PRCS paid tribute to its paramedics: Mustafa Khafaja, Izzeldin Sha’at, Saleh Moammar, Rifat Radwan, Mohammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Lebda, Mohammad Al-Heila, and Raed Al-Sharif.
The PRCS stated that the total number of PRCS personnel killed since October 7, 2023, has risen to 27.
“This horrific event marks not only a tragedy for the Palestinian Red Crescent but also a profound blow to humanitarian efforts and the very essence of humanity,” the PRCS stated.
The Red Crescent stressed that targeting paramedics and their internationally recognized humanitarian insignia constitutes a war crime under international law. Despite legal protection, attacks against medical and humanitarian personnel continue, with accountability remaining elusive globally.
The PRCS called for justice, urging a thorough investigation into the violations and advocating for the fate of missing paramedic Asaad Al-Nassasra to be uncovered.
وصول جثامين 14 من طواقم الدفاع المدني والهلال الأحمر إلى مستشفى ناصر جنوب قطاع #غزة بعد 8 أيام من فقدانهم في #رفح خلال استجابتهم لنداء استغاثة من المواطنين هناك#حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/ibP7U6hIc3
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) March 30, 2025
It appealed to the international community—including the United Nations, Geneva Convention signatories, and human rights organizations worldwide—to fulfill their legal obligations by ensuring humanitarian workers are safeguarded, halting attacks on medical missions, and addressing widespread impunity.
🚨The Palestine Red Crescent Society is devastated by the killing of eight of its EMTs in Rafah, who were targeted by the Israeli army while performing their humanitarian duties. They were responding to an emergency call to assist the wounded following Israeli airstrikes in the… pic.twitter.com/qK79MMFA9l
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 30, 2025
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) expressed outrage on Sunday regarding the deaths of 14 paramedics from the PRCS and Civil Defense who were performing their humanitarian duties in Gaza.
IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain stated: “I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not.
“Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules. These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not be clearer, civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected; health services must be protected.
“Our network is in mourning, but this is not enough. Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: ‘When will this stop?’ All parties must stop the killing, and all humanitarians must be protected.”
Israel has now killed at least 50,349 Palestinians, including 17,492 children, 9,802 women, and 230 journalists, and injured more than 114,095, mostly children and women, in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. At least 11,160 remain missing, largely under the rubble, on destroyed streets and in alleys, across the coastal enclave
