The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said it is “outraged” at the deaths of eight medics killed on duty in Rafah in southern Gaza. The nine-person ambulance team came under heavy fire in al-Hashashin on 23 March, said the IFRC. Their bodies were retrieved on Sunday after access was denied for a week. One medic is still missing.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said their staff’s bodies were discovered along with those of six members of Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency and one UN employee.
They did not say who opened fire on the convoy – but Hamas blamed the Israel Defense Forces for the attack. The BBC has sought comment from the IDF.
In Sunday’s statement, the IFRC said the eight bodies of PRCS workers were retrieved “after seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen”.
The organisation identified those killed as ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer, and Ezzedine Shaath, and first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed al-Sharif, and Rifatt Radwan.
Assad Al-Nassasra was “still missing”. “I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians,” IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said.
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