‘War Crime’ – PRCS Urges Independent Probe into ‘Massacre’ of Medics

April 8, 2025 News
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that it had recovered the bodies of 14 workers in Rafah. (Photo: supplied)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The horrific attack on March 23, 2035, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, resulted in the killing of 15 humanitarian workers.

As new audio and video footage emerges of the Israeli army’s targeting of a convoy of emergency vehicles in Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) affirmed that the attack “constitutes a full-fledged war crime” and urged an independent investigation.

The horrific attack on March 23, 2035, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, resulted in the killing of 15 humanitarian workers, including 10 paramedics, five civil defense personnel and a UN employee. The fate of one medic, Asaad al-Nassasrah, remains unknown.

Calling for those responsible for the massacre to be held accountable, the PRCS said in a statement on Monday that “it reflects a dangerous pattern of repeated violation of international humanitarian law.”

It said video footage, “documented by our late colleague and medic Rifaat Radwan, shows the final moments of the team as they drove clearly marked ambulances with flashing emergency lights toward the site where the first ambulance had been targeted.”

“Despite the clear identification of the vehicles and teams, the convoy came under heavy gunfire for approximately five minutes, as shown in the published footage,” the statement added.

Furthermore, the statement continued, communication between the team and the Central Dispatch Center “confirms that the gunfire continued for no less than two hours, with continuous shooting heard until contact was completely lost with one of the medics.”

‘Series of Deliberate Attacks’

“PRCS affirms that this was neither a random incident nor an individual error, but rather a series of deliberate attacks,” it said.

The first was the shooting of an ambulance en route to evacuate casualties after a home was bombed in the Al-Hashasheen area.

This, the statement stressed, was followed by “a direct attack” on the PRCS and Civil Defense ambulance convoy—despite the teams following all safety protocols—and then by the targeting of a fourth ambulance that was heading to support the others.

It said it was important to note that the area was not classified as a “red zone” at the time of the response, “which means that no prior coordination was required to access the site.”

Israeli military vehicles were not visible in the area, PRCS said, as confirmed by extended video footage showing the team traveling along the same street repeatedly for nearly 15 minutes before being attacked.

“Moreover, tracking the sequence of events revealed that approximately one hour after the convoy was targeted, a civilian vehicle and a UNRWA vehicle passed through the same area—further confirming it was not an active combat zone at the time,” it added.

Prevented from Accessing Site

For almost five days, PRCS said, Israeli forces prevented rescue teams from accessing the site under the pretext that it was a red zone. Eventually, limited access was granted, during which the team recovered the body of a Civil Defense member before Israeli forces forced the rescue team to withdraw.

On March 30, the bodies of 14 individuals—including PRCS medics, Civil Defense staff, and one UNRWA staff member—were discovered “piled together in a black mesh bag, buried in a mass grave in a brutal and degrading manner that violates human dignity.”

According to testimonies from the team that recovered the bodies, said PRCS, all ambulance and rescue vehicles “had been completely destroyed and buried under dirt—indicating a deliberate effort to disable the vehicles and remove them permanently from service, as well as an intentional targeting of the protective emblem.”

The preliminary forensic report confirmed that the medics “were killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the upper parts of their bodies—further evidence of deliberate killing,” the humanitarian group noted.

Protection under Geneva Conventions

“Targeting ambulance crews bearing the Red Crescent emblem—protected under the Geneva Conventions—constitutes a war crime,” said PRCS.

The organization called for an independent international investigation and “for all perpetrators to be held accountable.”

It urged “the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions” to uphold their obligations and take concrete measures to hold Israel accountable for these crimes.

PRCS stated that international silence in the face of attacks on humanitarian teams not only equates to a death sentence for Palestinians in Gaza but also poses a direct threat to humanitarian work everywhere.

‘Forgive me, Mother’

Chilling footage retrieved from the phone of one of the paramedics, Refaat Radwan, captured his final moments.

“Forgive me, Mother… this is the path I chose to help people. The army has arrived,” he said in the footage, which lasted just over six minutes. It was made public on Saturday by the New York Times, shedding light on the horrifying reality of this targeted attack on medical personnel.

This video directly contradicts the narrative put forth by the Israeli army, which had previously claimed that its forces did not “randomly attack ambulances” but had instead targeted “suspicious” vehicles.

According to Israeli officials, their forces opened fire after observing vehicles approaching without emergency lights.

However, the video unmistakably shows that the ambulances and fire trucks were clearly marked, with their emergency lights activated, and the paramedics were wearing reflective uniforms designated for emergency response.

According to the New York Times report, the authenticity of the video has been verified by independent sources, including a senior UN diplomat, who confirmed its location, timing, and accuracy.

‘Come to Me, Dad, Help Me’

On Monday, CNN reported on audio footage from 21-year-old paramedic Mohammad Al-Hila, who covered the shift of his father on that fateful day.

’Come to me, Dad, help me… we were targeted by the Israelis, and they are now shooting at us directly,” Al-Hila’s father recalled his son saying in a message to him over the phone. “The call ended after that,” he said.

Following the revelation of audio and video footage, the Israeli army said it had begun re-investigating the incident, CNN reported.

“All the claims raised regarding the incident will be examined through the mechanism and presented in a detailed and thorough manner for a decision on how to handle the event,” the Israeli army said in a statement on Monday, according to CNN.

Sole Survivor’s Testimony

Monther Abed, a volunteer paramedic with the PRCS and sole survivor of the attack, said that as soon as the convoy of ambulances arrived in the Hashashin area, “we were subjected to intense and direct gunfire.”

“I had to duck down inside the ambulance at the back. I didn’t hear anything from my colleagues, just their final gasps. Then a special Israeli force arrived, opened the ambulance door, and spoke in Hebrew. They pushed my head to the ground so I wouldn’t see my colleagues or know their fate,” he stated.

After the gunfire on the ambulances, Israeli soldiers pulled Abed from the wreckage, arrested him, blindfolded him, and interrogated him for 15 hours before releasing him.

“They beat me with rifle butts and tortured me, asking about my name, address, and details about my presence on October 7. The more I answered, the more they beat me. I wished for death from the pain of the torture.”

The sole survivor confirmed that the occupation forces used military bulldozers to dig at the site. He saw them digging a hole on one side and three others on the other side, where they buried the ambulances and civil defense vehicles after shooting the people inside.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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