Israeli soldiers killed 15 Palestinian doctors in Gaza, buried them in mass grave; UN claims
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The United Nations (UN) accused Israeli soldiers of killing 15 Palestinian doctors in southern Gaza. The UN claimed that all the doctors were buried in a mass grave after being killed, where damaged ambulances were also found. It is alleged that Israeli military bulldozers crushed the bodies of the doctors and the ambulance. The UN said that since the war began in Gaza 18 months ago, Israel has killed more than 100 civilian security workers and more than 1,000 health workers.
On Monday (local time), a huge crowd of Palestinians performed the funeral of the doctors and emergency workers killed outside the Nasser Hospital in Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent alleged that the workers and their vehicles clearly had medical markings. Despite this, Israeli soldiers killed them mercilessly. At the same time, the Israeli army said that they fired on ‘suspicious’ vehicles without identification.
The dead included eight Red Crescent employees
The dead included eight Red Crescent employees, six members of Gaza’s Civil Protection emergency unit and one employee of the United Nations agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). The International Red Cross/Red Crescent said it was the deadliest attack on its personnel in eight years.
Emergency teams were missing since March 23
Israeli forces launched an offensive in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan district on March 23. Emergency teams had arrived around noon to evacuate casualties in the attack, after which they went missing. However, the Israeli army had appealed to evacuate the area earlier that day. The army had said that Hamas terrorists were hiding here. At the same time, Civil Defense had said in its alert that displaced Palestinians had taken refuge in the area, who were attacked by the Israeli army. When the emergency team reached there to rescue them, Israeli soldiers surrounded it as well.
Israeli forces attacked emergency teams for several hours
The United Nations said on Sunday that Israeli forces killed the first team on March 23 itself. When other emergency teams arrived to rescue the first team, Israeli forces attacked them for several hours. At the same time, Israeli forces say that they fired on vehicles that were moving towards them suspiciously without any emergency signals. Initial assessment has revealed that the soldiers killed Hamas activist Mohammad Amin Shobaki and eight other terrorists there.
