The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) heinous crime against 14 members of ambulance and civil defense crews, who were on a humanitarian mission to rescue people in Rafah. PCHR affirms that the continued international silence and failure to take any deterrent or tangible measures against Israeli leaders have contributed to the continuation of these horrific atrocities. Therefore, PCHR considers these grave violations a critical test of the credibility of international law, urging the free nations of the world to act immediately to end this bloodshed, which threatens the values of humanity and justice.

The horrors of this heinous crime were revealed 8 days after the IOF’s perpetration of it. Contact was lost with the ambulance and civil defense crews while they were on a humanitarian mission in al-Hashasheen area, west of Rafah, and all efforts made during the past few days to determine their fate were hindered. It turned out later that the IOF killed 6 members of the Palestinian Civil Defense crews and 8 paramedics from the Palestinian Red Cresent Society (PRCS) that declared that the ninth paramedic is still missing.¹ The Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) stated that the victims were found buried in a deep hole to prevent their identification,² indicating that they had been detained and premeditatedly killed.

This horrific crime is part of a series of crimes committed by the IOF against ambulance and civil defense crews, which resulted in the deaths of 27 paramedics from the PRCS³ and 111 members of the civil defense crews. Additionally, more than 140 ambulances have been targeted over a year and a half of war, in clear violation of Articles 18 and 21 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which obligate all parties to respect and protect medical units and transports carrying wounded and sick civilians, the elderly, and women. The IOF has blatantly disregarded these provisions, repeatedly violating them despite the presence of internationally recognized and distinctive emblems on ambulances, civil defense vehicles, and their crews. Therefore, these acts amount to war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which stipulates in paragraph 24 that “intentionally directing attacks against installations, material, medical units, vehicles, and personnel using distinctive emblems as outlined in the Geneva Conventions” constitutes a war crime that requires accountability.

PCHR affirms that this crime is an integral part of Israel’s genocidal acts committed over the past 17 months, aiming to destroy all aspects of life, including depriving civilians of the most basic means of survival. Preventing ambulance and civil defense teams from carrying out their rescue missions constitutes a war crime and violates Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Therefore, PCHR:

• Calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Four Geneva Conventions to compel Israel to respect and protect medical personnel and ensure their safe access to provide life-saving services, as guaranteed by the rules of international humanitarian law.
• Urges the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health to criminalize Israeli atrocities against ambulance and civil defense crews and calls for the establishment of an independent international mechanism to document and monitor violations of the right to health in the Gaza Strip. This is essential to ensure evidence collection and its submission before competent international courts to consider war crimes and ongoing violations against Gaza’s population.
• Calls on the international community to end Israeli leaders’ impunity, as it encourages them to deny Palestinian victims’ rights to justice and redress. PCHR also calls for a serious action to refer these heinous crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold the perpetuators accountable, achieve international justice, and impose immediate sanctions on Israel, including an arms embargo to prevent the use of weapons in crimes against civilians and medical teams.

1. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s press release, link: https://www.palestinercs.org/en/Article/12024/%E2%80%8FPRCS-The-Killing-of-Eight-of-Our-Medics-is-%E2%80%8FA-Tragedy-Against-Humanitarian-Work ↩︎
2. The Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH)’s statement, link: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Hqep8gKrX/ ↩︎
3. Ibid, the PRCS’s press release. ↩︎