Gaza Live: Rescue Team Executed by Israeli Forces
As the humanitarian crisis deepens, the UN and aid groups have accused Israel of violating international law by blocking the flow of aid into Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, with the blockade resulting in the longest period without humanitarian aid since the war began, and no aid entering Gaza for over three weeks.
A group of 14 rescue team members who went missing in Gaza a week ago are alleged to have been executed by Israeli forces, with witnesses claiming that the Israeli troops killed and buried the team, including ambulances, in Rafah city. The incident is part of a larger crisis, as over a dozen aid workers have been killed or gone missing in Gaza over the past few days, according to several groups, amidst Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid nearing the one-month mark.
The United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, reported that eight of its staff were killed in Gaza over the past week, while the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said nine of its emergency medical technicians (EMTs) have been missing since Sunday after Israeli forces fired on ambulances and fire trucks in the southern Gaza governorate of Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the ambulances and fire trucks were being used as cover by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters.
The conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 Palestinians since Israel's military campaign began in October 2023, with hundreds of thousands at risk of severe hunger and malnutrition. The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that its food stocks are enough to support its operations for only two weeks. About 400 aid workers, including teachers, doctors, and nurses, have been killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave since October 2023, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The international community has been urged to take action, with the Palestine Red Crescent Society calling for protection of medical teams and the UNRWA commissioner-general urging Israel to lift its blockade and resume the ceasefire. The World Central Kitchen (WCK) reported that one of its volunteers was killed and six others were injured in Israeli strikes near a community kitchen in Gaza on Thursday, as meals were being distributed.