Statement issued by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) regarding the killing of two paramedics in Rafah

The Israeli occupation's targeting of the PRCS, its teams, vehicles, and facilities constitutes a war crime.

Ramallah - Palestine

May 30, 2024

The PRCS expresses deep sorrow and shock at the killing of paramedics Haitham Tubasi and Suhail Hasouna, as a result of the deliberate targeting by Israeli occupation forces last night of a PRCS ambulance vehicles in the Tel Sultan area west of Rafah.

Israeli warplanes targeted one of three ambulances that on a humanitarian mission, hitting the front of the vehicle and causing it to catch fire. When the ambulance crew attempted to extinguish the fire, the occupation soldiers opened heavy fire toward the teams, forcing them to withdraw from the site before they could retrieve the paramedics' bodies, which were found in pieces this morning.

The PRCS demands accountability for the perpetrators of this war crime and an urgent investigation to ensure justice for the victims. Targeting medical teams constitutes a violation of International Humanitarian Law. 

Silence about the continued systematic killing of human beings' humanity and those working to protect it is no longer acceptable.

The PRCS holds the international community fully responsible for the continued targeting by the Israeli occupation of the PRCS's teams, facilities, and ambulances clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem, protected under International Humanitarian Law. 

With the killing of Haitham and Suhail, the number of PRCS martyrs since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip rises to 19 martyrs targeted by the Israeli occupation while performing their humanitarian duties.

The PRCS calls on the international community and partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to take immediate action to protect the PRCS teams and stop the occupation forces' targeting of protected persons, including medical teams.