UN footage shows Gaza first responders retrieved from mass graves in Rafah

Head of the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, shared a harrowing account of a mass grave uncovered in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where several emergency responders and paramedics, still in their uniforms and gloves, were killed by Israeli forces.

Head of the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, shared a harrowing account of a mass grave uncovered in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where several emergency responders and paramedics, still in their uniforms and gloves, were killed by Israeli… pic.twitter.com/zk8wesXqVJ

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‘Seven days ago, as Israeli forces advanced on Rafah, 10 PRCS and 6 Civil Defense first responders were dispatched to collect injured,’ Whittall said in a thread on X. ‘All five ambulances and one fire-truck were struck, along with a UN vehicle that arrived later.’

Footage from OCHA shows Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Civil Defence workers carefully retrieving human remains, including 14 bodies recovered on Sunday alone.

‘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,’ Whittall added.

READ: International Red Cross ‘appalled’ by killing of Palestinian medics, rescuers in Gaza

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