As Israeli forces superior on the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah earlier than daybreak final Sunday, an ambulance crew got down to evacuate civilians wounded by Israeli shelling. However the ambulance was hit on the way in which, and its crew injured.
A number of extra ambulances and a fireplace truck headed to the scene, in line with the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society, as did a U.N. car, the United Nations stated. Seventeen folks have been dispatched in whole.
Then all of them went silent.
It took 5 days for the United Nations and Crimson Crescent to barter with the Israeli army for protected passage to seek for the lacking folks. After receiving clearance, U.N. officers stated, the retrieval staff discovered 15 useless over the weekend, most of their our bodies dumped in a mass grave.
On Monday, the United Nations stated Israel had killed them — a uncommon accusation by the group, which is usually cautious about assigning clear blame.
“They have been killed by Israeli forces whereas making an attempt to save lots of lives,” the U.N. humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on X. “We demand solutions & justice.”
The Crimson Crescent, the Worldwide Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations stated all of these killed have been humanitarian employees who ought to by no means have come beneath assault. The Crimson Crescent referred to as the killings a warfare crime and demanded accountability.
An Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said on X on Monday that 9 of these killed have been Palestinian militants. He stated Israeli forces “didn’t randomly assault” an ambulance, however that a number of autos “have been recognized advancing suspiciously” with out headlights or emergency alerts towards Israeli troops, prompting them to shoot.
U.N. officers stated the autos have been clearly marked as rescue autos.
Colonel Shoshani stated that throughout the assault, Israeli forces killed a Hamas army operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, who participated within the Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel that sparked the warfare in Gaza.
He stated Israeli forces had additionally killed eight different operatives from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one other militant group. He accused militants of “as soon as once more exploiting medical services and tools for his or her actions.”
He didn’t immediately say whether or not the militants have been within the emergency autos or deal with the identities of the opposite six folks killed.
After the autos have been fired on, U.N. officers stated, the ambulances, a fireplace truck and the U.N. car have been then bulldozed and crushed by Israeli forces.
The Crimson Crescent stated one medic was nonetheless lacking. The lone survivor, a Crimson Crescent crew member, was detained, overwhelmed and launched by Israeli forces the identical day, in line with the help group. He instructed colleagues that Israeli forces had killed each of the opposite crew members in his ambulance, the Crimson Crescent and U.N. officers stated.
Of the 17 folks concerned, 10 have been Crimson Crescent employees, six have been emergency responders from Gaza’s civil protection and one was a U.N. employee, U.N. officers stated.
The highest U.N. humanitarian official in Gaza, Jonathan Whittall, joined the retrieval staff and posted photos on X displaying the crumpled autos — husks of mangled steel jutting from the sand. The massive navy-blue “N” on the U.N. car was nonetheless seen on it.
“One after the other, they have been hit, they have been struck. Their our bodies have been gathered and buried on this mass grave,” he stated in a video message shared by the United Nations.
On Friday, the U.N. staff that went searching for the lacking folks witnessed new scenes of chaos and violence in Rafah, together with “tons of of civilians fleeing beneath gunfire,” Mr. Whittall said on X. One lady was shot behind the top, he stated.
He posted a video displaying what he stated got here subsequent: Two males walked towards the highway, apparently to retrieve the lady’s physique. Then one in every of them was shot, too. Mr. Whittall didn’t say who fired the pictures.
On Saturday, the U.N. convoy discovered the crumpled autos. Hours of digging yielded one physique, a civil protection employee buried beneath his firetruck, Mr. Whittall stated. They returned for the remaining our bodies on Sunday.
Mr. Whittall narrated the seek for the our bodies within the video message.
“We’re digging them out of their uniforms, with their gloves on,” he stated. “They have been right here to save lots of lives. As an alternative, they ended up in a mass grave.”
The grave, he stated, was marked with the emergency mild from one of many destroyed ambulances.
Colonel Shoshani, the Israeli army spokesman, stated the autos, not like others alongside the identical route earlier that day, had not acquired permission from Israeli forces to be there.
Nebal Farsakh, a Palestine Crimson Crescent Society spokeswoman, stated that when the ambulances set out round 3:30 a.m. on March 23, Israeli forces had not but closed off the realm as a “pink zone,” the place ambulances should clear their actions with Israel.
Israel didn’t instantly deal with the accusations of burying folks in mass graves or crushing their autos.
In all, the Crimson Crescent stated, 27 of its medics have been killed for the reason that warfare started.
A cease-fire paused preventing in Gaza from January till March 18, when Israel broke it.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
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