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According to the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, Israeli forces killed 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers on March 23 in southern Gaza, burying them in a mass grave after allegedly targeting their marked emergency vehicles one by one.
Some shit you should know before you read: Throughout the conflict in Gaza, Israel has consistently claimed that Hamas and other militant groups exploit humanitarian infrastructure by embedding operatives within medical teams, UN facilities, and civilian convoys. The Israeli military has cited these tactics as justification to strike ambulances, hospitals, and aid convoys, claiming such targets were being used for militant operations. In some cases, Israel has released surveillance footage, aerial imagery, and intercepted communications that it says show Hamas fighters using UN buildings as command centers or transporting weapons and personnel in clearly marked ambulances. Nonetheless, humanitarian organizations and the United Nations have repeatedly challenged these narratives, emphasizing that the systematic targeting of aid workers and protected facilities undermines the principles of international humanitarian law and puts civilian lives at extreme risk.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the United Nations confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in Rafah, southern Gaza, where the bodies of 15 Palestinian medics and emergency responders were unearthed on March 30—seven days after they went missing during a rescue mission. The victims included eight Palestinian Red Crescent workers, six Civil Defense personnel, and one UN staff member.
According to the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the workers were part of a clearly marked convoy of ambulances, fire trucks, and aid vehicles responding to casualties from an earlier Israeli airstrike. They were reportedly targeted one by one, and their bodies—still in uniforms and gloves—were later found buried under sand alongside their destroyed vehicles. Some of the vehicles had reportedly been crushed by Israeli bulldozers. At least one victim was recovered with his hands tied, raising serious concerns of execution-style killings.
The UN has condemned the incident, calling it a grave violation of international humanitarian law and human dignity. Officials from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described the attack as “absolute horror,” stating that the rescue workers were killed while clearly performing humanitarian duties. The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, expressed outrage, stating that burying aid workers in shallow, unmarked graves amounted to a “profound violation of human dignity.”
Israel, meanwhile, has defended the attack, claiming its troops opened fire after several vehicles advanced “suspiciously” toward them without headlights or emergency signals in an active combat zone. The IDF argued that the convoy’s movement was not coordinated in advance, and that initial assessments indicated the presence of a Hamas operative—Mohammad Amin Shobaki—and eight other militants among those killed.
