Sat Mar 29 15:38:04 UTC 2025: ## Israel Admits Firing on Ambulances in Gaza, Killing Rescue Workers
**Gaza City, March 29, 2025** – The Israeli military has admitted to firing on ambulances in the Gaza Strip last Sunday, March 23, claiming the vehicles were initially identified as suspicious. The incident, which occurred in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, resulted in the death of at least one rescue worker and sparked outrage from Hamas and international organizations.
The Israeli military stated that troops had engaged Hamas vehicles, eliminating several terrorists. Subsequently, additional vehicles approached, prompting further fire. A subsequent inquiry revealed that some of these vehicles were ambulances and fire trucks. The military condemned Hamas’s alleged use of ambulances for terrorist purposes.
However, Gaza’s civil defense agency reported losing contact with a six-person rescue team dispatched to the area. The body of the team leader and the damaged ambulance and fire truck were later discovered. A Palestine Red Crescent vehicle was also destroyed.
Hamas condemned the incident as a war crime, accusing Israel of a deliberate massacre of rescue workers, protected under international humanitarian law. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, stated that the actions constitute a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) head, Tom Fletcher, expressed deep concern, highlighting the deaths of hundreds of children and other civilians in Israeli airstrikes since March 18, including patients killed in their hospital beds and first responders killed. He called for international action to uphold humanitarian law. The incident follows a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza after a two-month truce.
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