Egypt Daily News – The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza reported on Monday that Israel has committed a shocking crime by executing 15 humanitarian workers during a mission in Rafah.
It said that “evidence confirms that some of the victims were executed while handcuffed and were shot in fatal areas of the head and chest” and added that “the crime against the humanitarian teams was not a random targeting, but rather a deliberate execution by the decision of the Israeli army.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced on Sunday that the bodies of several medics who went missing after an Israeli attack in Gaza had been found. The office condemned, in a statement, the horrific crime committed by the occupation forces through the direct targeting and field execution of 15 humanitarian workers, including 8 medics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 6 members of the Palestinian Civil Defense teams, and an employee of UNRWA, while they were on a humanitarian mission to evacuate the injured in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, in response to an urgent distress call.
Deliberate Execution
The statement confirmed that “this horrific crime committed by the occupation forces in cold blood, after intentionally preventing the retrieval of the martyrs for eight consecutive days, is further evidence of the systematic policy followed by the Israeli army to target medical and humanitarian teams, in blatant violation of all international laws and conventions, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which guarantee full protection for humanitarian and medical workers.”
The Government Media Office held the Israeli army, the U.S. administration, and the countries involved in the genocide, such as the UK, Germany, and France, fully responsible for this heinous crime, stressing that it is a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Call for an Urgent International Investigation
The office called on the international community, the United Nations, the Security Council, and all human rights and humanitarian organizations to take immediate and practical steps to hold Israel accountable for these massacres. It also demanded an urgent and independent international investigation under the supervision of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, to reveal the details of this barbaric crime and bring its perpetrators to justice.
The office also called on the parties to the Geneva Conventions to assume their legal responsibilities and impose immediate sanctions on the Israeli occupation to stop the series of crimes against civilians and humanitarian teams.
The statement emphasized the necessity of urgent action to ensure the protection of medical and humanitarian teams in Gaza, and to enable them to carry out their work without targeting or obstacles. It stressed that these brutal massacres committed by the occupation will not undermine the Palestinian people’s right to life, freedom, and dignity, nor will they prevent medical and humanitarian teams from fulfilling their duty to save innocent lives.
“Buried in a Deep Hole”
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza condemned the occupation’s crime of targeting medical teams from the Red Crescent while working in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, it said: “The Ministry of Health condemns the horrific crime committed by the Israeli army in targeting medics and medical teams of the Palestinian Red Crescent while performing their humanitarian duties in Rafah a week ago. The bodies of 8 of these medics were retrieved today, after losing contact with them over the previous days. Some of these bodies were handcuffed, shot in the chest, and buried in a deep hole to prevent their identification.”
The ministry called on international organizations and authorities to conduct an urgent investigation into these crimes and hold the occupation accountable for committing them.
Increase in Martyrs’ Number
On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent announced that it had retrieved the bodies of 14 medics who were martyred in an Israeli shooting attack on ambulances in the Gaza Strip a week ago. The Red Crescent stated in a press release: “The number of bodies retrieved so far has risen to 14, including 8 medics from the Red Crescent teams, 5 from the Civil Defense teams, and an employee working for the United Nations.”
These medics were martyred in an Israeli shooting attack on ambulances in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on March 23.
