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Scene. file? Published by IMEMC News

UN teams rescue the bodies of aid workers killed by the IDF, earlier this week. Credit: Jonathan Whittall/X. Published by Haaretz

March 23 satellite image showing location of detained medical workers and ambulances. Published by IMEMC News

Civil Defense victim Anwar al-Attar. Published by IMEMC News
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Rescue teams say some victims had their hands tied and were shot at close range, suggesting they were executed. The IDF claims some of those killed were militants and says the vehicles were moving 'suspiciously'

Nir Hasson, Liza Rozovsky, and Jack Khoury by Haaretz
Apr 1, 2025

UN teams and rescue services in the Gaza Strip recovered earlier this week the bodies of 15 humanitarian aid workers who were killed by Israel Defense Forces fire in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah last week.

According to the rescue teams, an IDF engineering vehicle buried the bodies along with the vehicles they were traveling in under two large piles of sand, with a rotating emergency light from one of the rescue vehicles placed atop one of the mounds.

Members of the rescue team say an IDF official directed them to the exact location where the bodies were buried and instructed them to bring digging tools. UN teams received approval to recover the bodies five days after submitting their request.

One rescuer on site told Haaretz that one of the bodies was found with its legs bound, reinforcing suspicions that some of the aid workers may have been executed. On Sunday, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said that some of the workers were found with their hands tied.

Dr. Bashar Murad, the head of health programs for the Red Crescent in Gaza, told The Guardian on Monday that the autopsy of the bodies clearly showed that the rescue workers were shot in the upper parts of their bodies and were then put into a pit, one on top of another.

Murad added that one of the paramedics in the convoy was on the phone with other rescue workers at the ambulance station during the attack.

"He informed us that he was wounded and requested assistance, and that another person was also wounded," Murad said. A few minutes later, he added, the rescue team heard Israeli soldiers arriving, speaking in Hebrew. The troops talked about gathering the rescue workers and using restraints to tie them. According to Murad, this indicates that at least some of the rescue team members were still alive at that point.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza's Civil Defense, said in an interview with Radio Al-Shams that some of the victims were executed outside their vehicles.
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9 Palestinian Medics Killed By Israel, Their Bodies Covered Up

by IMEMC News
March 28, 2025

According to a report Thursday by Quds News, Israeli forces executed nine missing Palestinian medics from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense in Rafah, buried them, and destroyed their ambulances, the Palestinian Civil Defense confirmed on Thursday.

On March 22nd, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the Israeli army surrounded several of its ambulances while they were operating in the Al-Hashashin area of the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which was targeted by Israeli bombardment.

Several paramedics were injured, and contact was lost with the trapped team of medical professionals, who remained surrounded by the Israeli military as soldiers cleared the surrounding area and prevented anyone from reaching the ambulances.

The Palestinian Red Crescent had reported the medics missing for days, expressing deep concern for its teams’ safety and holding Israel fully responsible. The Gaza media office stated that the Israeli forces abducted 15 paramedics and civil defense workers. It called for urgent international intervention to allow rescue crews into Tel Sultan to locate the missing medics. However, all efforts by international organizations failed due to Israeli restrictions.

Their fate remained unknown until rescue teams, coordinated with the Red Cross, were able to enter the area on Thursday. They discovered that Israeli troops had executed the missing medics and buried them near the military barracks. The soldiers also destroyed all Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defense ambulances at the site.

Red Crescent victims: Ezz Al-Din Shaath, Mustafa Khafaja, Saleh Ma’mar, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Al-Hayla, Rifat Radwan, Asaad Al-Nasasra, Raed Al-Sharif

Civil Defense victims: Fouad Al-Jamal, Youssef Khalifa, Anwar Al-Attar, Zuhair Al-Farra, Sameer Al-Bahabsa, Ibrahim Al-Maghari

The body of Civil Defense head Anwar Al-Attar was recovered and transferred to Nasser Hospital. Search efforts for the remaining missing continue.

The discovery of the assassinated medics came nine days into Israel’s renewed assault on the entire Gaza Strip, which came unexpectedly on March 18th, after just 38 days of ceasefire, when the Israeli army carried out a sudden air operation in Gaza, killing over 500 people, injuring nearly 1,900 others, and destroying the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was in place since January.

At least 400 aid workers, including teachers, doctors and nurses, have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, OCHA said in an update earlier this week. The death toll includes 289 UN staff and 34 Palestinian Red Crescent Society medics, s well as 76 from other NGOs.

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