THE bodies of first responders have been recovered from a mass grave in Gaza as Israel has been accused of bombing them in their emergency vehicles.
A rescue operation was launched on Sunday to recover 15 bodies, eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, six from the Palestinian Civil Defense and one from the United Nations (UN) in Gaza.
Aid co-workers found the bodies buried in a mass grave in the Tal Al Sultan area of Rafah, the UN reported.
The first team was killed by Israeli forces on March 23, and other emergency and aid crews were struck one after another over several hours as they searched for their missing colleagues.
It has been reported that ambulances, a fire truck and a UN vehicle were bombed by Israeli forces and that the mass grave was marked with the emergency light from one of the obliterated emergency vehicles.
Jonathan Whittall, head of office for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, shared video footage on social media of the operation to recover the bodies of the first responders.
Along with the video, he said: “First responders should never be a target. Yet today @UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in #Rafah #Gaza 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 5 days later.”
1/6 First responders should never be a target. Yet today @UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in #Rafah #Gaza that was marked with the emergency light from one of their crushed ambulances. pic.twitter.com/xFYFXWp2c6
— Jonathan Whittall (@_jwhittall) March 30, 2025
He added that while traveling to the area to begin the recovery operation he encountered hundreds of civilians fleeing under gunfire and that he witnessed a woman shot in the back of the head.
Whittall said that he also witnessed a young man who tried to retrieve the woman who was shot, that he too was shot, and that he was only able to recover her body using a UN vehicle.
“After hours of digging, we recovered one body - a Civil Defense worker beneath his fire truck,” he said.
“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.”
