A sad Eid al-Fitr for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , with food supplies rapidly dwindling and no respite from Israeli bombing. Many prayed outside demolished mosques on the day that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, as at least 22 Palestinians were killed on Sunday, including women and children.
And there are those who notice something unusual in the latest attacks and bombings. “The bombs that Israel is dropping on the Gaza Strip from American-made warplanes have a completely different sound. Their sounds are unprecedented, loud and terrifying, and their destructive power is immense. What is happening now is something we have never seen before,” says a witness. “Israel is using new and more lethal weapons, capable of destroying everything it touches.”
In these hours, another horror is added to the fear and hunger.
On the first day of Eid, the Palestinian Red Cross (PRCS) found the bodies of 14 health workers from Gaza, including eight emergency doctors and paramedics, six Civil Defense personnel and a UN official. They were killed in the Tel al-Sultan district of Rafah city by Israeli forces, “one by one,” and buried in a mass grave, the UN said. The bodies were found buried under the sand, partly charred, near ambulances that were completely destroyed and set on fire. The body of one of them was found with his hands tied, apparently arrested and killed.
“They were wearing their uniforms and gloves, they were driving clearly marked vehicles. They were here to help the wounded, to save lives, not to lose their own. This should never have happened,” said Jonathan Whittall-OCHA Palestine . “These ambulances were buried in the sand. There is a United Nations vehicle here, buried in the sand. An Israeli military bulldozer buried them.”
Philippe Lazzarini, director of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed that one of his employees was among the dead found in Rafah.
International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks on health workers and the impediment of life-saving aid. But the Geneva Convention remains ignored.
According to Aljazeera, which acquired satellite images confirming the presence of several ambulances surrounded by soldiers and tanks in the Rafah area, the IDF had seized several ambulances and at least 16 Palestinian Red Cross workers on March 26, who then disappeared. “All five ambulances and a fire truck were hit, along with a UN vehicle that arrived later. Contact was lost with everyone.” For days, the Red Cross was unable to access the area, because it was besieged by Israeli shelling. OCHA, which manages the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the United Nations, also coordinated to reach the site, but access was granted five days later.
On the afternoon of March 30, the Red Cross, in a post on X, after entering the area indicated by the satellites, found a devastating scene: the ambulances, the UN vehicle and the fire truck had been crushed and partially buried.
The Israeli military said the area was an “active combat zone” and that troops had opened fire on several vehicles “suspiciously advancing toward IDF troops without lights or emergency signals,” but did not clarify why the paramedics and rescue workers had been buried in a mass grave at the scene of the shooting. Palestinian Red Crescent Chairman Younis al-Khatib also said the IDF had prevented the collection of the bodies for several days. The mission to recover the bodies was extremely tense, Whittall also reported: “As we traveled to the area, we encountered hundreds of civilians fleeing under enemy fire. We saw a woman shot in the back of the head. When a young man tried to recover her, he was also shot. We managed to recover her body using our UN vehicle.”
The Red Crescent has provided the names of some of the workers killed: Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Hilieh and Raed Al-Sharif.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,060 health workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza. Horror that adds to horror. Crimes against humanity that add up, while international politics watches without acting, in a deafening and complicit silence.
