Gaza
The president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Younis al-Khatib, has condemned Israel for targeting its paramedics as they carry out humanitarian missions.
During a press conference in Ramallah, occupied West Bank, on Sunday, al-Khatib said the search for nine missing team members in Gaza is still ongoing. The PRCS lost contact with a crew on March 23 after they came under heavy Israeli fire in Rafah, southern Gaza.
“These souls are not mere numbers. If this incident had happened anywhere else, the whole world would have moved heaven and earth to expose this war crime,” al-Khatib stated.
Two days ago, a rescue team, assisted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), managed to retrieve the buried body of one crew member. However, they could not determine the fate of the remaining members. Al-Khatib suggested that after more than a week without contact, the missing paramedics were either killed or detained by Israeli forces.
Last week, the Israeli military told AFP that it had fired on ambulances and fire trucks, labeling them as “suspicious vehicles.”
Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim denounced the attack, calling it a “flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime.” OCHA chief Tom Fletcher also condemned Israel’s actions, stating that since the ceasefire was broken on March 18, Israeli airstrikes have hit densely populated areas, killing patients in hospitals and targeting first responders.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that at least 921 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the resumption of hostilities, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to over 50,000 since October 7, 2023.
Israel launched its war following Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in 1,139 deaths and approximately 250 people taken captive into Gaza.
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