After Video Exposes Killing of 15 Medics in Rafah, Israel Says They Were Wrong

After the attack, Israeli troops bulldozed over the bodies, burying them in a mass grave.

The Quint accessed video footage and images from Gaza and spoke to key stakeholders in both Palestine and Israel to reconstruct the events of the night of the attack on Palestinian aid workers, which point to glaring discrepancies in the Israeli narrative.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

On the night of Sunday, 23 March, Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medics and aid workers headed to southern Gaza’s Rafah — a region witnessing intense loss of life amid Israel’s continuing “military operation” — to provide aid to other injured humanitarian workers.

Before they could reach Rafah, eight medics, several civil defence workers, and a United Nations (UN) staffer filled into five ambulances, a fire truck, and an UN-marked vehicle were “struck and killed by Israeli forces one-by-one” while one was taken into Israeli detention, PRCS spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told The Quint. Troops then bulldozed over their bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave.

Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave.

(Photo: Accessed by Pranay Dutta Roy)

According to an Israeli military official speaking to The Quint, the bodies were buried in sand to “protect them from wild animals,” and the vehicles “were moved the next day to clear the road.”

The site remained inaccessible for nearly a week, as international agencies, including the UN, were unable to secure safe passage or confirm its location.

What followed the initial attack was a prolonged period of Israeli obstruction, during which access to the site was repeatedly denied—even as medics, civil defence workers, and UN staff remained missing or were presumed dead.

The Israeli military maintained a narrative framing the killings as a response to a perceived threat. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The Quint accessed video footage and images from Gaza and spoke to key stakeholders in both Palestine and Israel to reconstruct the events of that night, which point to glaring discrepancies in the Israeli narrative.

(Photo: Accessed by Pranay Dutta Roy)

The Sequence of Events

23 March: At 4:20 am, a PRCS ambulance heading to an airstrike site in Rafah was fired on by Israeli forces, killing two paramedics. A rescue convoy that followed — including ambulances, a fire truck, and a UN vehicle — also came under fire. Most vehicles disappeared; survivors reported being shot at.

24 March: Gaza's civil defence reported no contact with the missing personnel. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) blocked access to the area.

26 March: A UN convoy attempting to reach the site witnessed a woman being shot. Her body was retrieved, but the team was forced to withdraw.

27 March: The UN team reached the site. They found crushed ambulances, a UN vehicle, and a fire truck partially buried. One body was recovered.

28 March: Civil defence recovered their team leader’s body and identified destroyed emergency vehicles.

30 March: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and PRCS teams uncovered a mass grave with 14 bodies—eight PRCS medics, five civil defence workers, and one UN staffer.

31 March: PRCS condemned the targeting of medics. The IDF claimed they fired on “suspicious vehicles,” later admitting the earlier report about vehicles lacking lights was inaccurate.

3-5 April: Video evidence from a medic’s recovered phone contradicted IDF claims—showing clearly marked ambulances with flashing lights before they were attacked.

(Photo: Accessed by Pranay Dutta Roy)

Israel’s ‘Terrorist’ Stance and Contradictory Evidence

The IDF said that on 23 March, during an operation in southern Gaza, troops opened fire on “several vehicles” they claimed were “advancing suspiciously without headlights or emergency signals,” and whose movement “was not coordinated in advance.”

In an earlier statement, the IDF said its forces had killed a Hamas operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, along with “eight other terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).”

However, video footage obtained by The Quint from the phone of a Palestinian medic killed in the incident appears to contradict the IDF’s version of events.

(Photo: Accessed by Pranay Dutta Roy)

The video, recovered from the mobile phone of Rifat Radwan, a PRCS medic killed alongside 14 other workers, captures their final moments. It shows ambulances and a red fire truck, all clearly marked, driving at night through Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood. Medics in high-visibility uniforms can be seen exiting the vehicles. Moments later, sustained gunfire erupts.

In the video, a medic can be heard saying, “The vehicle, the vehicle,” with another voice responding, “It seems to be an accident.” Moments later, gunfire erupts. The screen quickly turns black, but the audio continues. What follows is nearly five and a half minutes of intense shooting—prolonged bursts of bullets interspersed with brief silences, broken by isolated shots, panicked shouts, and screams.

When asked about the newly surfaced footage, an IDF spokesperson told The Quint that its soldiers “did not randomly attack” any ambulances and insisted they had fired at “terrorists” approaching in suspicious vehicles.”

One medic, Assaad al-Nassasra, is still missing, the Red Crescent says. The spokesperson refused to answer questions regarding Assaad al-Nassasra.

However, requesting anonymity, an Israeli military spokesperson told The Quint:

“Our initial account of the vehicles not having emergency lights on was mistaken. There is not much else to say. Our reports were based on accounts from soldiers—and we were wrong. We had an aircraft watching the movement who notified troops on the ground.”

In a briefing from the IDF, it said the ambulances arrived in the Tel Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah “shortly after a Hamas police vehicle drove through.” The IDF continues to claim that at least six of the medics were affiliated with Hamas, though it has not provided any evidence to support this allegation. It has also acknowledged that the medics were unarmed when troops opened fire.

Israel publicly maintains that Hamas uses ambulances and emergency vehicles to transport fighters, citing this as justification for targeting them. However, international medical organisations strongly reject these claims.

‘They Were Ready to Save Lives’

Jonathan Whittall, interim head of the OCHA, was quick to dismiss claims of the deceased medics being Hamas militants, adding: “These are paramedic crews that I personally have met before. They were buried in their uniforms with their gloves on. They were ready to save lives.”

The Red Crescent named the employees killed on 23 March as Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Rifaat Radwan, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Hilieh, and Raed Al-Sharif.

Speaking to The Quint, Red Cross spokesperson in Gaza Hisham Mhanna said, “They were trying to save lives. How did they end up in a mass grave?"

(Photo: Accessed by Pranay Dutta Roy)

Another medic, currently stationed in Rafah, spoke to The Quint under conditions of anonymity and said:

“This is the deadliest attack on Red Cross or Red Crescent workers in almost ten years. More than statistics, these were individuals. They were my friends and colleagues. They join the rest of our country as simple names on a list.”

Since the start of its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities, Israeli forces have killed at least 1,060 healthcare workers, according to health officials. Israeli airstrikes have targeted 27 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals, resulting in 739 strikes and the deaths of at least 907 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 517 healthcare workers have been detained by Israeli authorities during the conflict, with more than 160 still in custody. These actions, including the repeated targeting of medical personnel, are in direct violation of the Geneva Convention, which protects civilian persons and healthcare workers in times of war.

International Federation of Red Cross Secretary General Jagan Chapagain spoke on similar lines, and said, “These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians”

"Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules. These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not be clearer—civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked,” Chapagain said in a statement.

(Photo Courtesy: X/PalestineRCS)

Are Humanitarian Workers Israel’s Real Enemy?

The Government of Israel has ignored the notification and deconfliction system, through which agencies had shared coordinates and movements with the Israeli military so as to be protected from targeting.

In February 2024 alone, Médecins du Monde, Humanity & Inclusion, and the Belgian Development Agency, reported attacks on their offices.

(Photo Courtesy: X/PalestineRCS)

On 20 February, a shelter of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) was bombed killing at least two people, despite the building being clearly marked and known to the Israelis.

On 18 January, a compound housing the Emergency Medical Team of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) was bombed during an Israeli airstrike in the alleged ‘safe zone’ of al-Mawasi.

Coordinated aid convoys of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross came under fire, and an attack on an evacuation convoy of MSF resulted in the killing of two civilians.

On 22 January 2024, Israel attacked two of Oxfam’s partners’ warehouses in Al Mawasi, leveling them and killing four people. These warehouses were clearly marked as ‘safe humanitarian zone.

The UN reports that at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel. Due to mounting safety concerns, the UN is now scaling back its international staff presence in Gaza by one-third.