Gaza Rescue Team Allegedly ‘Executed’ by Zionist Forces, Officials Report
A week following the disappearance of a team of aid workers in Rafah, located in southern Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) asserts that there is a belief these individuals were "executed" by Israeli forces.
A contingent of 15 paramedics and rescue personnel from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Gaza’s Civil Defense disappeared on March 22 in the Tal Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. This followed an event where Israeli forces reportedly targeted ambulances and fire trucks.
They arrived following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah.
In a statement released on Saturday, the PRCS announced that there has been no discovery of any signs of their team members.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported the discovery of four ambulance vehicles yesterday, March 28. The vehicles were found completely destroyed and buried in the sand, and it’s believed they were intentionally targeted.
A spokesperson for the Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal, announced the recovery of the remains of an emergency worker.
Basal reported that upon being granted access to the region, Civil Defense and Red Crescent teams encountered “massive destruction” along with extensive bulldozing activities.
Officials reported that they discovered their vehicles, along with those belonging to the Red Crescent, had been destroyed. Following this, the remains of one worker, which had been buried by bulldozers, were recovered, according to statements provided.
In a report released on Saturday, Al Jazeera cited eyewitness accounts claiming that Israeli forces had allegedly killed and subsequently buried a team of paramedics and rescue workers who had been dispatched to Rafah the previous week.
In an official statement, the Israeli military reported that its forces engaged “suspicious vehicles” that were approaching their position without any prior coordination, prompting them to open fire.
Basem Naim, a representative from the political bureau of Hamas, described the incident as “a deliberate and brutal massacre targeting civil defense and Palestinian Red Crescent teams in the city of Rafah.”
According to reports from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, since October 2023, during Israel’s military operations in Gaza, 19 of the society’s members have lost their lives while performing their duties.
A spokesperson for the society stated on Thursday, “The addition of more names to this tragic list is something we cannot endure.”
In a distinct event, Israeli forces fatally shot a member of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and wounded six others while meals were being distributed in Gaza on Thursday.
