Rafah displacement and massacre of rescue team

Forced displacement:

Around 8 am, the IDF issued a forced displacement order covering the Tal al-Sultan area, in southwest Rafah.

Israel prohibited displacement by vehicles, forcing people, ailing, elderly to walk long distances under Israeli gunfire, as was documented by journalists on the ground.

Field executions

Multiple eyewitnesses recounted that the IDF shot at people during the forced displacement, and struck a bus full of people.

A father, displaced from the Saudi neighborhood, also recounted seeing two people being shot dead on the coastal road, and found his own son killed lying on the ground in the "barracks" area.

A mother, also reported her son was killed but could not take his body as the tanks were in front of her.

Rescue vehicles struck and crew missing

At dawn, hours before the forced displacement announcement, the IDF had struck a PRCS ambulance north of Rafah. Palestinian sources reported hours later, around 8 am, that IDF troops had surrounded five ambulances and a fire truck, and people in Rafah, including some injured by Israeli attacks. The vehicles were transporting 16 first responders (10 PRCS paramedics and 6 Civil Defense crews) responding to the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Al-Hashashin area of Rafah.

Around 10 am, journalists reported that contact was lost with Civil Defense crews who were sent to rescue PRCS crews targeted by the IDF.

On March 28, a joint mission involving Civil Defense, Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and UNOCHA reached the area and found the PRCS and Civil Defense vehicles bombed and completely destroyed, along with a UN vehicle. Moreover the head of the Civil Defense mission to Rafah, Anwar al-Attar was found killed.

On March 30, another mission to search for the missing crew found most of the missing crew members killed, including a UN employee.

Al-Jazeera's fact checking agency, Sanad, obtained and analyzed satellite imagery which clearly showed IDF vehicles surrounding the rescue vehicles. The IDF confirmed that its troops had opened fire on several vehicles “advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals”.

The victims and the wrecked vehicles were buried collectively under the sand, as evidenced in UNOCHA footage of the search operations.

According to the Ministry of Health and the Civil Defense spokesperson, the rescue crews were buried only a few meters away from their vehicles, meaning that they were taken out. One victim had his clothes removed and another one was beheaded. Their bodies had markings of having been zip-tied, and being shot with a hail of bullets.

Dr. Ahmad Dhaher, a forensic expert at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, carried out autopsies of five bodies stated that

• one body was decomposed beyond recognition, seemlingly mutilated by animals
• another had bruises on the wrist with linear marks on the skin
• "some were shot in the head from behind"
• “most of the bullets targeted the joints, such as the shoulder, elbow, ankle, or wrist”

In addition, eyewitnesses who took part in the recovery of the workers' remains and saw their arrival at Nasser hospital both saw indications of hands and legs being tied, as reported to the Guardian.

Massacre recorded, debunks Israeli spin

On April 4, 2025, the PRCS announced presenting to the UN Security Council a video recording of the moment Israeli troops shot the paramedics with a gunfire barrage. The footage was obtained from the phone of paramedic Refaat Radwan which was found in his pocket.

The footage was shared with and published by the New York Times, which described the sequence of events in the recording as follows

The recording starts with a convoy of PRCS ambulances reaching the scene where another ambulance is on the side of the road and the paramedics notice people lying on the ground. As soon as the paramedics wearing appropriate reflective gear dismounted from the ambulances –also bearing clear insignia and flashlights– they were shot at with a hail of bullets by Israelis for over 5 minutes. The paramedic who was filming seemingly took cover and kept reciting the Shahada and other final prayers throughout the Israeli shooting, while shout in Hebrew were heard in the background along with cries of distraught paramedics.

The recording clearly refutes claims by the IDF which did not deny its responsibility and claimed that the vehicles were "uncoordinated" and "advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals". The IDF also claimed the attack killed "a Hamas military operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki". However, no person with that name is on the list of bodies retrieves from the mass grave.

Account of events by Jonathan Whittall, UNOCHA head of Gaza and West Bank office:

First responders should never be a target. Yet today UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in Rafah that was marked with the emergency light from one of their crushed ambulances.

Seven days ago, as Israeli forces advanced on Rafah, 10 PRCS and 6 Civil Defense first responders were dispatched to collect injured. All five ambulances and one fire-truck were struck, along with a UN vehicle that arrived later. Contact was lost with all.

One survivor said Israeli forces had killed both of the crew in his ambulance. For days, OCHA coordinated to reach the site but our access was only granted 5days later.

While traveling to the area on the fifth day we encountered hundreds of civilians fleeing under gunfire. We witnessed a woman shot in the back of the head. When a young man tried to retrieve her, he too was shot. We were able to recover her body using our UN vehicle.

Returning the next day, we were finally able to reach the site and discovered a devastating scene: ambulances, the UN vehicle, and fire truck had been crushed and partially buried. After hours of digging, we recovered one body - a Civil Defense worker beneath his fire truck.

Today, on the first day of Eid, we returned and recovered the buried bodies of 8 PRCS, 6 Civil Defense and 1 UN staff. 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

List of the members of the rescue mission:

1. Mustafa Khafaja (Red Crescent, killed)
2. Ezz El-Din Shaat (Red Crescent, killed)
3. Saleh Muammar (Red Crescent, killed)
4. Muhammad Bahloul (Red Crescent, killed)
5. Muhammad Al-Hila (Red Crescent, killed)
6. Ashraf Abu Libda (Red Crescent, killed)
7. Raed Al-Sharif (Red Crescent, killed)
8. Refaat Radwan (Red Crescent, killed)
9. Asaad Al-Nsasra (Red Crescent, disappeared then released on April 29)
10. Anwar Al-Attar (Civil Defense, killed)
11. Fouad Al-Jammal (Civil Defense, killed)
12. Yousef Khalifa (Civil Defense, killed)
13. Zuhayr Al-Farra (Civil Defense, killed)
14. Sameer Al-Bahabsa (Civil Defense, killed)
15. Ibrahim Al-Mughari (Civil Defense, killed)
16. unnamed United Nations staff member (killed)