Israel Turns Gaza’s Eid Into Tragedy With New Massacres

Over 60 Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes that rocked different parts of the Gaza strip, on Sunday, March 30, which also marked the first day of Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intensified their aerial attacks on the besieged enclave in the early hours of Sunday and throughout the day. However, hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza gathered to perform Eid prayers atop the rubble of demolished mosques, in a clear message to the world that their will to survive is greater than Israel’s destruction.

Israel deliberately targeted rescue teams in Rafah

The first day of Eid saw another incident of tragedy for the people of Gaza, after the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that it retrieved the bodies of 14 aid workers in Rafah, southern Gaza. The 14 included eight PRCS medics, five staff members of the Palestinian Civil Defense agency, and an employee working with a UN agency.

The recovery of the bodies was announced six days after the PRCS had lost contact with the rescue teams. The release of satellite images exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera demonstrated that the IOF destroyed at least five rescue vehicles belonging to the PRCS and the Civil Defense, who were on a humanitarian mission in Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. The IOF did so after they targeted the teams of both organizations, which included 15 volunteers.

Mourning its executed staff, the PRCS said in a statement that “they were targeted by the Israeli occupation forces while performing their humanitarian duties as they were heading to the Hashashin area of ​​Rafah to provide first aid to a number of people injured by Israeli shelling in the area.” The organization added that a ninth medic remains missing.

The PRCS called the massacre a “tragedy” not only for the organization “but also for humanitarian work and humanity.” Emphasizing that the incident was a deliberate execution the PRCS said that the rescue teams were targeted by the IOF “despite the protected status of their mission and the Red Crescent emblem.”

It also pointed out that the incident “can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world.”

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) expressed its outrage at the deaths of eight medics from the PRCS.

The IFRC stressed that when the medics were killed, their ambulance vehicle was “clearly marked” and they were wearing emblems that “should have protected them.”

“I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not.” IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain stated.

“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,” he added.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch