The footage, found on the mobile phone of Rifat Radwan, one of the victims, contradicts Israeli military claims that its soldiers targeted “suspicious vehicles” in the area.
The video, released by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Saturday, shows medics wearing reflective uniforms inside a clearly marked ambulance in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood when they come under intense gunfire from Israeli forces.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Motaz Azaiza مُعْتَز عَزَايْزَة ⚡️🌶️ (@motaz_azaiza)
According to the PRCS, the convoy of ambulances had been dispatched in response to emergency calls from civilians trapped after an Israeli bombardment in Rafah.
The video, filmed from inside a moving vehicle, captures a red fire truck and several ambulances stopping by the roadside.
Moments later, two uniformed medics exit the vehicles, and a volley of gunfire erupts, causing the screen to go black. The medic filming the scene is heard reciting the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, as he faces the gunfire.
The Israeli military initially claimed that its forces did not target ambulances but rather fired at “terrorists” approaching them in “suspicious vehicles,” which were not displaying headlights or emergency signals.
However, the PRCS and local witnesses argue that the video and the condition of the victims—many of whom were found with their hands and feet bound and showing signs of execution—point to a deliberate attack on humanitarian workers.
The attack killed 15 people, including eight from the PRCS, six from Gaza’s Civil Defence, and a staff member from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Their bodies were found buried near Rafah in what the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described as a mass grave.
One of the witnesses, Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal, reported that many victims had bullet wounds to their heads and torsos, suggesting execution-style killings after being identified as medical personnel.
Some of the bodies had been decapitated, while others were dismembered.
The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the killings as “premeditated murder under international law,” with a statement saying the video disproved Israel’s claims that the vehicles had approached “suspiciously.”
Hamas demanded an international investigation into the attack. The Gaza government also condemned the killings, describing them as a “brutal and unprecedented” act against medical teams, calling for justice and accountability.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed his horror over the attack, highlighting the risk of war crimes. He called for a “prompt and thorough investigation” into the incident, adding that it raised serious concerns over the targeting of humanitarian workers by Israeli forces.
According to UNRWA, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023.
Israel has said it is investigating the attack, but it remains under heavy international scrutiny, with many calling for an independent probe into the killings of medical personnel.
The ongoing Israeli onslaught in Gaza has led to the deaths of over 50,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.