The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), following the Israeli attack on March 23, called the killings of their nine staff one of the war’s ‘darkest moments.
New evidence points to the suspicion that some of the 15 Palestinian aid workers, who were killed by Israeli forces in Rafah last week, were killed at close range in an apparent execution-style attack. This incident, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has called “one of the darkest moments” of the war.
According to forensic analyst Ahmad Dhaher, who examined five of the bodies at Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, the findings indicate close-range gunfire. The positions of the bullet wounds suggested intentional close-range execution.
“One observation is that bullets were aimed at one person’s head, another at their heart, and a third person had been shot with six or seven bullets in the torso,” Dhaher stated to The Guardian.
However, the decomposition of the bodies made definitive conclusions challenging.
The aid workers went missing on March 23, during a rescue mission in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, which came under attack by Israeli forces. The group included nine PRCS medics, six civil defence workers, and one United Nations employee.
Following the incident, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that after the first rescue team was killed, other emergency crews were struck repeatedly while searching for the missing workers.
One week later, fifteen bodies were found buried in the sand, described as a “mass grave” by OCHA. One PRCS worker is still missing.
PRCS President Younes al-Khatib described this as “one of the darkest moments in this conflict that has shaken our shared humanity to its core” at the UN Security Council.
Al-Khatib further stated that PRCS dispatchers overheard a conversation in Hebrew between Israeli forces and some of the aid workers, indicating that at least some of them were alive while in Israeli custody.
Israel’s military claims that nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters were inside the rescue crews’ ambulances, stating they are launching an investigation into the incident.
“The presence of those terrorists puts everyone’s lives at risk,” claimed Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
So far, 408 humanitarian workers have been killed during the Gaza war, including 280 UN staff, according to the UN.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that the killing of aid workers raises “further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military.”
At a UN Security Council meeting in New York, Turk called for an “independent, prompt, and thorough investigation” into their killing.
UN correspondent Gabriel Elizondo reported from the UN headquarters in New York that there is a growing consensus among council members on the need for more action to hold Israel accountable.
According to forensic analyst Ahmad Dhaher, who examined five of the bodies at Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, the findings indicate close-range gunfire. The positions of the bullet wounds suggested intentional close-range execution.
“One observation is that bullets were aimed at one person’s head, another at their heart, and a third person had been shot with six or seven bullets in the torso,” Dhaher stated to The Guardian.
However, the decomposition of the bodies made definitive conclusions challenging.
The aid workers went missing on March 23, during a rescue mission in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, which came under attack by Israeli forces. The group included nine PRCS medics, six civil defence workers, and one United Nations employee.
Following the incident, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that after the first rescue team was killed, other emergency crews were struck repeatedly while searching for the missing workers.
One week later, fifteen bodies were found buried in the sand, described as a “mass grave” by OCHA. One PRCS worker is still missing.
PRCS President Younes al-Khatib described this as “one of the darkest moments in this conflict that has shaken our shared humanity to its core” at the UN Security Council.
Al-Khatib further stated that PRCS dispatchers overheard a conversation in Hebrew between Israeli forces and some of the aid workers, indicating that at least some of them were alive while in Israeli custody.
Israel’s military claims that nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters were inside the rescue crews’ ambulances, stating they are launching an investigation into the incident.
“The presence of those terrorists puts everyone’s lives at risk,” claimed Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
So far, 408 humanitarian workers have been killed during the Gaza war, including 280 UN staff, according to the UN.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that the killing of aid workers raises “further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military.”
At a UN Security Council meeting in New York, Turk called for an “independent, prompt, and thorough investigation” into their killing.
UN correspondent Gabriel Elizondo reported from the UN headquarters in New York that there is a growing consensus among council members on the need for more action to hold Israel accountable.
