Footage shows rescue workers, with ambulance lights on, killed in barrage of Israeli gunfire
Members of the Palestinian Red Crescent and other emergency services
carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces,
during a funeral procession at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the
southern Gaza Strip on 31 March 2025 (AFP)
New video evidence relating to the killing of 15 Palestinian rescue workers by Israeli forces has emerged, contradicting the Israeli account of the attack on a medical convoy in Rafah last week.
The footage, which was retrieved from a phone belonging to one of the medics who was killed, shows the Israeli army attacking clearly marked Red Crescent ambulances that had their emergency signal lights on, and emergency medical workers wearing reflective vests.
Officials from the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a news conference on Friday at the United Nations headquarters that they had presented the nearly seven-minute recording to the UN Security Council.
Last week, the humanitarian workers went missing after responding to a distress call from civilians wounded in an Israeli attack in Rafah. All contact was lost with them and the medics were found days later in a mass grave, two to three metres deep, with their bodies riddled with gunshots, according the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.
'They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives," said Jonathan Whittall, head of then UN's humanitarian affairs office in Palestine.
The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces had executed the medics, some of whom were handcuffed, before burying them underneath their crushed ambulances in southern Gaza's Rafah.
'Mum, forgive me'
The Israeli military said in an initial statement that the vehicles were struck because they were being used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both groups deny using ambulances for military purposes.
The new evidence contradicts the Israeli army's account that claimed that the emergency vehicles "were identified advancing suspiciously towards [Israeli] troops without headlights or emergency signals", prompting Israeli forces to shoot.
The video shows rescue workers exiting a fire truck and an ambulance and approaching a disabled ambulance that had veered off the road. Intense gunfire suddenly erupts and can be seen striking the convoy. Voices of distressed aid workers and soldiers shouting commands in Hebrew can be heard in the background.
A medical worker can be heard saying that Israeli forces are riddling their vehicles with bullets.
He then asks his mother for forgiveness, saying: "Mum, forgive me. This is the path I chose - I wanted to help people. Forgive me, Mum. I swear, I only took this path to help people."
Gaza's government media office said in a statement that the revelations "expose the lies of the Israeli occupation army" and has demanded an independent international investigation into the killings.
The workers include eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence search-and-rescue teams, and one UN staff member.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, said at least one of them had their legs bound, another was decapitated and a third topless.
"This grave was located just metres from their vehicles, indicating the [Israeli] occupation forces removed the victims from the vehicles, executed them and then discarded their bodies in the pit," Basal said.
The killings are the single deadliest attack on Red Cross/Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"My son volunteered to help the wounded. He did not receive a salary. He loved his work and he was dedicated to it," the mother of one of the paramedics, Ashraf Nasser Abu Labda, told Middle East Eye last week.
The footage, which was retrieved from a phone belonging to one of the medics who was killed, shows the Israeli army attacking clearly marked Red Crescent ambulances that had their emergency signal lights on, and emergency medical workers wearing reflective vests.
Officials from the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a news conference on Friday at the United Nations headquarters that they had presented the nearly seven-minute recording to the UN Security Council.
Last week, the humanitarian workers went missing after responding to a distress call from civilians wounded in an Israeli attack in Rafah. All contact was lost with them and the medics were found days later in a mass grave, two to three metres deep, with their bodies riddled with gunshots, according the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.
'They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives," said Jonathan Whittall, head of then UN's humanitarian affairs office in Palestine.
The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces had executed the medics, some of whom were handcuffed, before burying them underneath their crushed ambulances in southern Gaza's Rafah.
'Mum, forgive me'
The Israeli military said in an initial statement that the vehicles were struck because they were being used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both groups deny using ambulances for military purposes.
The new evidence contradicts the Israeli army's account that claimed that the emergency vehicles "were identified advancing suspiciously towards [Israeli] troops without headlights or emergency signals", prompting Israeli forces to shoot.
The video shows rescue workers exiting a fire truck and an ambulance and approaching a disabled ambulance that had veered off the road. Intense gunfire suddenly erupts and can be seen striking the convoy. Voices of distressed aid workers and soldiers shouting commands in Hebrew can be heard in the background.
A medical worker can be heard saying that Israeli forces are riddling their vehicles with bullets.
He then asks his mother for forgiveness, saying: "Mum, forgive me. This is the path I chose - I wanted to help people. Forgive me, Mum. I swear, I only took this path to help people."
Gaza's government media office said in a statement that the revelations "expose the lies of the Israeli occupation army" and has demanded an independent international investigation into the killings.
The workers include eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence search-and-rescue teams, and one UN staff member.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, said at least one of them had their legs bound, another was decapitated and a third topless.
"This grave was located just metres from their vehicles, indicating the [Israeli] occupation forces removed the victims from the vehicles, executed them and then discarded their bodies in the pit," Basal said.
The killings are the single deadliest attack on Red Cross/Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"My son volunteered to help the wounded. He did not receive a salary. He loved his work and he was dedicated to it," the mother of one of the paramedics, Ashraf Nasser Abu Labda, told Middle East Eye last week.
Mobile phone video shows Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinian rescuers despite flashing emergency lights and sirens marking their vehicles as ambulances
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has published mobile phone footage taken by a slain Palestinian paramedic refuting Israel's account of why its soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck on 23 March, killing 15 rescue workers.
The video shows the vehicles moving in the dark with their headlights and emergency flashing lights switched on. Israeli forces then opened fire on the vehicles for several minutes.
The Israeli military initially denied the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals on when its forces opened fire on them.
At least two emergency workers can be seen stepping out of the vehicles wearing reflective clothing. The rescuer filming the video with his phone is heard reciting Islamic prayers before being killed.
One rescuer can be heard in the video saying, "Forgive me, mother. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives."
During the attack, Israeli forces killed eight PRCS paramedics, six Gaza Civil Defense workers, and one UN employee. Israeli troops buried their bodies, and the destroyed vehicles in a shallow mass grave dug in the sand.
The mobile phone containing the video was found on one of the bodies.
The video confirms the testimony of paramedic Munther Abed.
"During day and at night, it's the same thing. External and internal lights are on. Everything tells you it's an ambulance vehicle that belongs to the Palestinian Red Crescent. All lights were on until the vehicle came under direct fire," Abed told the BBC.
He also denied he or his team had any connection to Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
"All crews are civilian. We don't belong to any militant group. Our main duty is to offer ambulance services and save people's lives. No more, no less," he said.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed without evidence that several Hamas and PIJ fighters were killed in the incident.
"The IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance," he attempted to claim.
The Israeli army prevented the PRCS from accessing the site of the killing for eight days.
One paramedic, identified as Assad, is still unaccounted for.
On Friday, the President of the PRCS, Dr Younis Al-Khatib, showed the video to journalists during a press conference held at the UN headquarters in New York.
"We were praying that they will be alive. They kept us for eight days in the dark. Now, the only information we know is that Assad is missing. But there's somebody who knows whether Assad has been killed somewhere else or Assad is detained in Israeli jails," Khatib said.
The Vice President of the PRCS, Marwan Jilani, said, "I think the scale of this crime should force, that it should oblige the international community to do more and not to accept that this would be another incident that goes in the files and be forgotten after a few days."
Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, eulogized the slain medics stating, “Their ambulances were crushed and partly buried. Nearby were their bodies – also buried, en masse, in the sand. Our dead colleagues were still wearing their Red Crescent vests. In life, those uniforms signalled their status as humanitarian workers; they should have protected them. Instead, in death, those red vests became their shrouds.”
The video shows the vehicles moving in the dark with their headlights and emergency flashing lights switched on. Israeli forces then opened fire on the vehicles for several minutes.
The Israeli military initially denied the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals on when its forces opened fire on them.
At least two emergency workers can be seen stepping out of the vehicles wearing reflective clothing. The rescuer filming the video with his phone is heard reciting Islamic prayers before being killed.
One rescuer can be heard in the video saying, "Forgive me, mother. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives."
During the attack, Israeli forces killed eight PRCS paramedics, six Gaza Civil Defense workers, and one UN employee. Israeli troops buried their bodies, and the destroyed vehicles in a shallow mass grave dug in the sand.
The mobile phone containing the video was found on one of the bodies.
The video confirms the testimony of paramedic Munther Abed.
"During day and at night, it's the same thing. External and internal lights are on. Everything tells you it's an ambulance vehicle that belongs to the Palestinian Red Crescent. All lights were on until the vehicle came under direct fire," Abed told the BBC.
He also denied he or his team had any connection to Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
"All crews are civilian. We don't belong to any militant group. Our main duty is to offer ambulance services and save people's lives. No more, no less," he said.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed without evidence that several Hamas and PIJ fighters were killed in the incident.
"The IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance," he attempted to claim.
The Israeli army prevented the PRCS from accessing the site of the killing for eight days.
One paramedic, identified as Assad, is still unaccounted for.
On Friday, the President of the PRCS, Dr Younis Al-Khatib, showed the video to journalists during a press conference held at the UN headquarters in New York.
"We were praying that they will be alive. They kept us for eight days in the dark. Now, the only information we know is that Assad is missing. But there's somebody who knows whether Assad has been killed somewhere else or Assad is detained in Israeli jails," Khatib said.
The Vice President of the PRCS, Marwan Jilani, said, "I think the scale of this crime should force, that it should oblige the international community to do more and not to accept that this would be another incident that goes in the files and be forgotten after a few days."
Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, eulogized the slain medics stating, “Their ambulances were crushed and partly buried. Nearby were their bodies – also buried, en masse, in the sand. Our dead colleagues were still wearing their Red Crescent vests. In life, those uniforms signalled their status as humanitarian workers; they should have protected them. Instead, in death, those red vests became their shrouds.”
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