In light of the ongoing crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Palestinian territories, members of the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defense were arrested and executed in Rafah in a brutal crime that constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and a blatant breach of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The occupation army besieged a team of paramedics and civil defense personnel who had gone to rescue the wounded following an Israeli strike near the UNRWA barracks in Tel al-Sultan neighborhood. A week before their execution, they had gone missing, and the army refused to provide any information about them or allow any rescue efforts. Despite appeals and calls for their release, the occupation forces ignored them and withheld any information. It was only on Saturday, March 29, that their fate was revealed—massacred—when Red Crescent teams, coordinated with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), accessed the area where they had been trapped.

The spokesperson for Gaza›s Civil Defense reported that the Israeli occupation forces abused the humanitarian aid personnel, executed them directly in Rafah, and buried them in mass graves. A total of 14 members of the Civil Defense and the Red Crescent were executed. One Civil Defense member who participated in retrieving the bodies recounted horrific scenes:

«Two Civil Defense members had their hands and feet bound, as well as paramedics. Some of the bodies were decapitated. The least injured among them had been shot 30 times. They were all buried in a mass grave, in a pit over two meters deep, far from their vehicles—meaning the occupation forces took them out, led them to the site, executed them, and then buried them.»

Targeting ambulance and rescue teams, who dedicated their lives to saving civilians and providing humanitarian aid, is a war crime that does not expire under the Rome Statute, which criminalizes deliberate attacks on humanitarian aid workers. It also constitutes a blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which classifies the deliberate killing of medical and aid workers as a grave breach of international law—an offense prosecutable before the International Criminal Court or national courts under universal jurisdiction.

Demands for Justice and Accountability, The International Solidarity Institution for Palestinian Prisoners (Tadamon) demands the following:

-1 An urgent and independent international investigation under the supervision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and relevant UN investigation committees to hold those responsible for this crime accountable.

-2 Immediate legal actions against the perpetrators of these crimes, either before the ICC or through universal jurisdiction mechanisms in countries that allow it.

-3 The imposition of strict international sanctions on Israel and holding it accountable for its systematic violations of human rights and international law.

-4 International protection for medical and humanitarian teams in Gaza and urging the UN Security Council and General Assembly to take a clear and firm stance against these crimes, ending the double standards in the application of international law.

The silence of the international community on these ongoing violations encourages the occupation to continue committing crimes with impunity. We, therefore, call on all human rights and UN bodies to fulfill their responsibilities and take immediate action to ensure justice for the victims and their families.

International Solidarity Institution for Palestinian Prisoners

    (Tadamon)