Gaza paramedic’s body recovered from Rafah after Israeli siege, as eight remain missing
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Palestinian Civil Defence have confirmed its teams recovered the body of one of its crew members who went missing in Gaza’s western Rafah on Sunday following a days-long Israeli siege on the area.
Anwar Abdul Hamid Al-Attar, a humanitarian mission officer, was among nine PRCS and civil defence crew members who were trapped in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan area after Israeli forces encircled it on Sunday, cutting off some 50,000 Palestinians from food, water, and medical care.
Attar’s body was retrieved following multiple coordinated attempts by PRCS, civil defence teams and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to access the area over the course of five days.
PRCS said it lost contact with the team after Israeli forces open-fired on them as they were on their way to treat the wounded on Sunday. It reported that one of the crew members was released after being severely beaten.
The Palestinian Civil Defence reported that its staff are “experiencing great shock” following the recovery of Al-Attar’s body, which they said was “torn apart”.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
The team’s vehicles, the only remaining ambulance and fire truck in the area, were “reduced to a pile of metal”.
The civil defence added that its teams had found torn safety equipment at the scene, suggesting Israeli forces targeted the crew during its military incursion on the area.
But following the attack, the organisation said the army “intentionally altered the site and buried the bodies of some citizens using bulldozers and heavy machinery”.
The Defence said its teams have been waiting since Friday morning for Israeli approval to regain access to the area in order to resume the search for their remaining missing colleagues, which it named as: firetruck driver Zuhair Abdul Hamid Al-Farra, fire officer Samir Yahya Al-Bahapsa, fire officer Ibrahim Nabil Al-Maghari, ambulance driver Fouad Ibrahim Al-Jamal, ambulance officer Youssef Rassem Khalifa.
The organisation said that Israeli forces “committed a crime of genocide against our teams,” violating international humanitarian law and the Genocide Convention.
“The occupation's continued destruction of our resources and targeting of our personnel will not deter us from providing our humanitarian services,” it said in a statement.
‘Not an accident’
The missing men are among dozens of rescue and aid workers who have been killed or gone missing in Israeli attacks across the enclave over the last week.
The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported eight of its staff members had been killed in Israeli attacks in a week.
Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike near a community kitchen killed a World Central Kitchen (WCK) volunteer and wounded six others as meals were being distributed.
“Our hearts are heavy today,” the US-based NGO said in a statement on X.
On 15 March, eight volunteers for the UK charity Al-Khair Foundation were killed in an Israeli drone strike as they were setting up tents for displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia.
When asked whether the UK Foreign Office condemned the attack, a spokesperson said: "It is vital that - in all scenarios - civilians are protected, including journalists and humanitarian organisations, who must be enabled to deliver their essential work in safety”.
On 19 March, an Israeli air strike on a United Nations building in Deir al-Balah killed one UN worker, and critically wounded five others.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, chief of the UN Office for Project Services, told a press conference that that attack was “not an accident”.
"Israel knew that this was a UN premises, that people were living, staying and working there, it is a compound. It is a very well-known place,” he said.
Following the recent slew of attacks, the UK and France called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss “the humanitarian situation in Gaza and protection of aid workers”.
“Humanitarians are increasingly unable to operate in Gaza and last week a UN compound was hit. This is unacceptable,” the UK’s Mission to the UN posted on X.
OCHA reported in an update earlier this week that around 400 aid workers including teachers, doctors and nurses, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023.
The figure includes 289 UN staff, 34 PRCS workers, and 76 from other NGOs.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme’s director in Palestine has warned that over 90 percent of Gaza's population is now food insecure amid Israel's new aid blockade on the territory.
“We have some aid, but it is of very poor quality,” he told Al Jazeera.
The lack of cooking gas remains a major obstacle, further crippling efforts to provide meals, He said.
He also called for urgent measures to protect aid workers and demanded an end to the blockade choking off essential supplies.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
