Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The International Federation of Red Cross Societies and Red Crescent (Iffif) has said that it is “outraged” for the death of eight doctors dead service in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Nine-people’s ambulance team was under a strong fire in Al-Hashin on March 23, said IFFRC. Their bodies were recovered on Sunday after access refused for a week. A doctor is still missing.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that the bodies of its staff were discovered along with the six members of the Civil Defense Agency directed by Hamas de Gaza and a UN employee.
They did not say who opened fire against the convoy, but Hamas blamed Israel’s defense forces for the attack. The BBC has sought comments from the IDF.
In Sunday’s statement, the Iffif said that the eight bodies of the PRC workers were recovered “after seven days of silence and having access to the Rafah area, where they were last seen.”
The organization identified those killed as Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath, and the volunteers of the first response Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan.
He added that Ambulance officer Assad al-Nassasra “was still missing.”
“I am disconsolate. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to injured people. They were humanitarian,” said Iff Secretary Jagan Chapagin.
“They carried emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked.
“Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules. These rules of international humanitarian law could not be clearer: civilians must be protected; humanitarian must be protected. Health services must be protected.”
The IDF have not publicly commented on the Declaration of the Red Cross and Crescent Red.
The AFP news agency reported that on Saturday the Israeli army admitted that he had fired in ambulances in southern Gaza last Sunday after identifying them as “suspicious vehicles.”
The Israeli troops “opened fire to Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists,” the military said in a statement to the AFP.
“A few minutes later, additional vehicles suspiciously advanced towards the troops … The troops responded by shooting towards the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a series of hamas and terrorists of the Islamic Jihad.”
The military added that “after an initial investigation, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles … were ambulances and fire trucks.”
He also said that there had been “repeated use” by “terrorist organizations in the Gaza ambulance strip for terrorist purposes.”
Hamas’ senior official, Basem Naim, condemned the attack.
“The objective murder of rescue workers, who are protected by international humanitarian law, constitutes a flagrant violation of gin conventions and a war crime,” he said.
Israel resumed his military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after the first phase of a high fire that began in January came to an end, and negotiations in a second phase of the agreement stagnated.
Since then, more than 900 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in GazaThe Ministry of Health led by Hamas said.
The war was activated when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking Gaza to 251 as captive.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, says the Ministry of Health of Gaza directed by Hamas.
