Bodies of 15 rescuers recovered from grave in Gaza, UN officials say
UN demands answers for deaths of first responders after bodies and mangled vehicles were found buried in sand
Palestinians held funerals on Monday for 15 doctors and emergency responders killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, after their bodies and mangled ambulances were found in the sand, buried in an impromptu mass grave, apparently ploughed over by Israeli military bulldozers.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says the slain workers and their vehicles were clearly marked as medical and humanitarian personnel, and accused Israeli troops of killing them “in cold blood.” The Israeli military said its troops opened fire on vehicles that approached them “suspiciously” without identification.
The dead included eight Red Crescent workers, six members of Gaza’s Civil Defence emergency unit and a staffer from UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinians. The International Red Cross/Red Crescent said it was the deadliest attack on its personnel in eight years.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a post on social media that the bodies were buried near “wrecked & well-marked vehicles”, adding: “They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers & justice”.
The Israeli military did not specifically respond to questions about why the bodies were retrieved beneath the sand, nor why the vehicles were found crushed.