Israeli forces execute Gaza medics, bury them in mass grave in Rafah

• Israeli forces executed 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers in Rafah, burying them in a mass grave under ambulances.
• The victims included PRCS paramedics, Civil Defense rescuers, and a UN staffer, some of whom were found bound or mutilated.
• Global condemnation followed, but the U.S. continues to fund Israel despite evidence of genocide.
• Israel claimed the medics acted “suspiciously,” but no proof of ties to Hamas was provided.
• More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in total, including 15,000 children and hundreds of aid workers.

In a grotesque violation of international law, Israeli forces executed at least 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian workers in Rafah, southern Gaza, before burying them in a mass grave beneath their crushed ambulances.

The victims — eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six Civil Defense rescuers, and one UN staff member — were responding to a distress call on March 23 when they were systematically targeted, shot multiple times at close range, and dumped into a makeshift pit. Some were found with their hands tied, one decapitated, another topless — a barbaric act that underscores Israel’s escalating campaign of indiscriminate slaughter under the guise of “self-defense.”

The discovery of the mass grave, marked only by the emergency light of a buried ambulance, has drawn global condemnation. Yet the U.S. continues to fund and arm Israel’s military, despite overwhelming evidence that its offensive in Gaza has long crossed the line from war into outright genocide.

A calculated massacre

According to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, Israeli forces “brutally, savagely executed” the medics before attempting to conceal the crime. “This scene represents one of the most brutal massacres Gaza has witnessed in modern history,” Basal said. The bodies, riddled with up to 20 gunshot wounds each, were found just meters from their clearly marked ambulances — proof they were pulled from their vehicles, executed, and discarded like trash.

Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN’s humanitarian office in Palestine, described the horrors: “They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened.”

Israel’s military offered a feeble justification, claiming the medics’ vehicles approached “suspiciously” without headlights — an absurd assertion given that the attack occurred in broad daylight. No evidence has been provided to support Israel’s claim that Hamas operatives were among the dead.

The Trump administration’s response? A tepid statement from the State Department insisting that “all parties” must comply with international law. Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokeswoman, deflected blame entirely, declaring, “Every single thing that happens in Gaza is happening because of Hamas.”

This is not just cowardice — it is complicity. The U.S. has sent billions in weapons to Israel, knowing full well they are being used to massacre civilians and humanitarian workers. Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 105 Civil Defense workers, 27 PRCS medics, 284 UN staff, and nearly 1,400 health workers. The Palestinian death toll now exceeds 50,000, including 15,000 children.

The International Red Cross called the killings the deadliest attack on its personnel since 2017. Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the IFRC, demanded: “When will this stop? All parties must stop the killing.” But empty appeals to “all parties” ignore the reality: Israel is the aggressor, armed and funded by Washington, while Gaza’s civilians—and those trying to save them—are systematically exterminated.

The U.S. cannot continue bankrolling this genocide. If there is any shred of moral conscience left in the White House, it must cut military aid to Israel immediately and demand an independent investigation into these executions. Otherwise, America’s hands are just as bloodstained as those of the soldiers who pulled the triggers.

Sources for this article include:

MiddleEastEye.net

TheGuardian.com

BBC.com

APNews.com