Palestinian paramedics killed by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, had their hands tied with gunshot wounds on their heads, the Civil Defence Agency said today.
“They were found buried 200 metres from the site of the destroyed Civil Defense and Red Crescent vehicles, and they were wearing their standard orange uniforms typical of relief work,” spokesman Mahmud Basal told a press conference in Gaza City.
“Some crew members were found buried with their hands and feet tied, and bullet wounds were visible on their heads and chests, showing that they were executed at close range,” he said.
The spokesman said that one of the bodies was found decapitated.
On Sunday, the Red Crescent Society said that it had recovered the bodies of eight medics, five civil defence workers and a UN staff member from Rafah after Israeli bombardment.
After international outrage, the Israeli occupation army claimed that the vehicles were advancing “suspiciously” towards its forces “without headlights, or emergency signals, [and] their movement was not coordinated in advance.”
The army claimed that nine members from Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups were killed in the 23 March incident.
However, images of the vehicles that were removed later by UN teams showed clearly that they were holding signs of ambulances, fire trucks along with a vehicle carrying the UN sign.
The civil defence spokesman called for an international investigation into the Israeli army’s killing of the Palestinian medics.
The death of the Palestinian medics triggered a massive war of condemnations from international rights and UN groups, who demanded answers for the killings.