Gaza First Responders Killed in Rafah Ambush: Tragedy Deepens in Humanitarian Crisis

Rafah, Gaza Strip April 5, 2025  — As Gaza remains one of the world’s most perilous environments for civilians amid Israel’s intensified military campaign, the humanitarian toll continues to rise. Among the latest casualties are 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers whose bodies were discovered last weekend in a mass grave near Rafah, a grim symbol of the escalating dangers faced by first responders.

The group had set out in the early hours of March 23 to locate missing colleagues after an Israeli airstrike in the Tel al-Sultan area. What followed was a deadly ambush that left no survivors among the rescue team. According to eyewitness accounts and surviving relatives, the paramedics were unarmed and on a purely humanitarian mission when they were allegedly targeted by Israeli forces.

Saleh Moamer, a 45-year-old paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, was among the dead. His brother, Bilal, recounted Saleh’s narrow escapes in earlier incidents during the ongoing conflict—once when a bullet pierced his chest during a hospital transfer mission, and again when he was shot in the shoulder during a rescue near Rafah. Despite serious injuries and months of recovery, Saleh insisted on returning to the frontlines.

On the night of March 22, before heading out for his shift, Saleh stocked up on supplies for his family—his wife, six children, and two orphaned nephews. His brother said he seemed to have a premonition that he might not return. “He said it would benefit them in the future. It was as if he had a feeling he would not come back,” Bilal told The Guardian.

After receiving a distress call about injured civilians in Tel al-Sultan, Saleh drove to the site, provided initial aid, and returned to base to request additional ambulances. Upon learning that radio contact had been lost with one of the ambulances—later confirmed to have been attacked—he organized a convoy of 13 emergency personnel and vehicles to return to the area. That was the last time they were seen alive.

The sole survivor from the earlier ambulance, paramedic Munther Abed, was detained by Israeli troops, who he identified as special forces. According to Abed, the convoy was ambushed, its members executed, and their vehicles buried using heavy machinery. The bodies of the paramedics were recovered a week later from a bulldozed pit, prompting anguish among their families.

Bilal Moamer described the moment he identified his brother’s body at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. “There were marks from restraints on Saleh’s wrists where the Israeli army had bound him. His fingers were also broken,” he said. Eyewitnesses confirmed that several bodies showed signs of being bound.

The Israeli military has issued a preliminary statement, claiming its forces fired on vehicles that were “advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals.” It alleged, without providing evidence, that the ambulances were being used by militants. No further details have been released.

To Saleh’s family and colleagues, the claim adds insult to devastating injury. “These paramedics were providing humanitarian services,” said Bilal. “They did not pose any threat or carry weapons. What was their crime to be killed like this?”

Among the victims was also 26-year-old Mohammad Bahloul, a volunteer Red Crescent paramedic. His father, Sobhi Bahloul, described the harrowing moment of recognition. “I moved closer until my face was right in front of his, and only then was I certain it was him. Then we pulled his ID from his trouser pocket.”

Mohammad had been volunteering since 2018. Though unpaid, he was deeply committed, having trained extensively in nursing, paramedicine, and health administration. “We hardly saw him at home,” his father recalled. “He was constantly at the hospital, with the ambulance teams. He was courageous and proactive.”

“I raised my children to love goodness and do good deeds,” said Sobhi. “They went to save lives, only to become victims themselves.”

The Palestine Red Crescent has called for an independent international investigation into the killings, labeling them a violation of international humanitarian law. Human rights groups have echoed the demand, citing growing concerns over attacks on medical and humanitarian personnel in the conflict zone.

As the war in Gaza continues with no clear end in sight, the death of these first responders underscores the increasingly perilous conditions for those risking their lives to save others—now among the latest to pay the ultimate price.