In response to an emergency call on 03/23/25 15 people, in several teams made up of members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the Civil Protection and the UN, drove to an area besieged by the Israeli military in Tal al-Sultan in the south of the Gaza Strip to evacuate injured people. Contact with the teams was lost shortly after the mission began. The teams came under heavy Israeli fire and subsequently disappeared, including the rescue vehicles. The attack took place despite their clear identification as humanitarian relief workers and medics and in defiance of international law, which grants them special protection.

The fate of the rescue teams remained unknown for over eight days. Yesterday, the terrible certainty: the dead and the remains of their vehicles were recovered. The bodies and the destroyed vehicles were buried under sand. One of the team members is still missing.

We are stunned by this repeated breach of international law by the Israeli army and condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms.

We call on the international community to independently and fully investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice. We demand unhindered and safe access for rescue teams to recover the last missing body.

Our sympathies go out to the bereaved families and colleagues of PRCS, the UN and Civil Protection.

*Cover photo: Symbolic image, smashed PRCS ambulance from Gaza 2024

Addendum from May 20, 2025

According to Israeli sources, six of the PCRS staff killed were members of Hamas (1). Evidence has not yet been provided by the Israeli side. (1, 2) According to the Israeli army, the alleged affiliation of the people killed was not known to the soldiers involved at the time of the attack. Furthermore, the people involved were unarmed.
The Israeli armed forces therefore do not derive any justification for the attack from the fact that they were allegedly members of Hamas. (3)

(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0xp969n69o

(2) https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/20/middleeast/israeli-military-professional-failures-gaza-medics-intl

(3) https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-850769