On Sunday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced the recovery of 14 bodies after an Israeli attack in Rafah in southern Gaza, including eight PRCS workers, five Civil Defense personnel and one staff member from a UN agency.
At least 1,513 humanitarian workers have been killed and hundreds of medical and civil defense facilities destroyed since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, according to the Government Media Office in the enclave.
“As part of the systematic targeting of the health system and civil defense, the Israeli occupation army has committed grave crimes, killing 1,402 medical personnel while they were performing their humanitarian duties, in addition to 111 civil defense workers while on rescue missions, ” the office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Israeli war crimes exposed in Rafah
The Red Crescent has confirmed that 14 medics and humanitarian workers were killed in an Israeli attack. Satellite images show rescue vehicles destroyed and buried.https://t.co/9coAWgDLbz pic.twitter.com/ooMFTAQnhD
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 30, 2025
The Israeli army also arrested 388 humanitarian workers, bombed and destroyed 34 hospitals, “rendering them out of service, and targeted and destroyed more than 240 medical centers and health institutions — causing the collapse of the health sector in Gaza.”
On Sunday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced the recovery of 14 bodies after an Israeli attack in Rafah in southern Gaza. The victims included eight Red Crescent workers, five Civil Defense personnel and one staff member from a UN agency.
This came days after the Palestinian Civil Defense reported recovering the body of one of its team members who was killed by Israeli forces, raising the death toll from the attack to 15, the Anadolu news agency reported.
‘World has Failed’
“This massacre of our team is a tragedy not only for us at the Palestine Red Crescent Society, but also for humanitarian work and humanity,” the PRCS said in a statement.
“The occupation’s targeting of Red Crescent medics, despite the protected status of their mission and the Red Crescent emblem, can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world,” the statement added.
A tragedy against humanitarian work.
The Red Crescent emblem, meant to protect you, has instead become the shroud that wrapped your bodies.
Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Shaat, Saleh Ma’amar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammad Al-Heila, and Raed Al-Sharif. pic.twitter.com/SOeVRAXyCm— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 31, 2025
The organization said, “The world has thus failed to take serious steps to prevent the occupation from continuing these flagrant violations of international law and conventions against health and humanitarian workers.”
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the “high number of medical personnel killed during this conflict is devastating.”
International humanitarian law is clear: medical personnel, ambulances, humanitarian relief personnel, and civil defense organizations must be respected and protected,” ICRC stated.
‘Disregard of Int Law’ – UNRWA
The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) condemned the killings as “severe disregard of international law.”
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, said it was “devastating to confirm the deaths of two additional UNRWA colleagues and 8 Palestinian Red Crescent aid workers & first responders.”
“This brings the death toll of aid workers killed to 408 among them more than 280 UNRWA staff since the war began 1.5 years ago,” Lazzarini added in a statement on X.
#Gaza: devastating to confirm the deaths of two additional @UNRWA colleagues and 8 Palestinian Red Crescent aid workers & first responders.
This brings the death toll of aid workers killed to 408 among them more than 280 UNRWA staff since the war began 1.5 years ago.
The body…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 31, 2025
He said the bodies were “discarded in shallow graves – a profound violation of human dignity.”
“These were humanitarian workers. Whether on the front line, or in their homes with their families, civilians must be protected at all time,” Lazzarini stressed.
He emphasized that targeting or endangering emergency responders, journalists or humanitarian workers “is a flagrant & severe disregard of international law.”
“In Gaza, these killings have become routine. This cannot become the new norm. There must be accountability. International humanitarian law applies to all, without exception,” Lazzarini stated.
Ongoing Genocide
The renewed Israeli violence on March 18 has broken a ceasefire that began on January 19. The latest military actions have killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured many more, primarily civilians, including women and children.
While the violations have been condemned by numerous countries and human rights groups, the US has continued its support for Israel, asserting that the military campaign was carried out with prior knowledge and approval from Washington.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the enclave.
(PC, Anadolu)
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