Russell and Carol - hayle and hearty

In remembrance of 15 Palestinian paramedic emergency workers killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza 23 March 2025

11 April 2025

"My heart and soul died when Rifaat was killed," says Hajjah Umm Mohammed, the mother of a Palestinian paramedic who was one of 15 emergency workers killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza last month.

Rifaat Radwan, 23, was travelling in a Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance in a convoy of emergency vehicles when it came under fire on the outskirts of Rafah on 23 March.

"I never expected him to be killed, especially since the area was classified as 'green', meaning safe and open to ambulances," she adds.

The Israeli military initially claimed the troops opened fire because the convoy approached them "suspiciously" in darkness without headlights or flashing emergency lights.

However, video filmed by Rifaat and found on his phone after his body was recovered, showed the vehicles' lights were on as they answered a call to help wounded people.

"Forgive me, mother... this is the path I chose to help people," Rifaat can be heard saying in the video shortly before he was killed, amid the sound of heavy gunfire.

Speaking at the United Nations yesterday [4 April 2025] the President of the PRCS, Dr Younis Al-Khatib, referred to the video recording, saying: "I heard the voice of one of those team members who was killed. His last words before being shot…'forgive me mum, I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives'. It's heartbreaking".

He called for "accountability" and "an "independent and thorough investigation" of what he called an "atrocious crime".

One paramedic is still unaccounted for following the 23 March incident.

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The video, published by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), shows the vehicles moving in darkness with headlights and emergency flashing lights switched on - before coming under fire. The PRCS said the video was obtained from the phone of a paramedic who was killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initially denied the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals on.

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A surviving paramedic previously told the BBC that the ambulances were clearly marked and had their internal and external lights on.

The latest video, which the PRCS said had been shown to the UN Security Council, shows the marked vehicles drawing to a halt on the edge of the road, lights still flashing, and at least two emergency workers stepping out wearing reflective clothing.

The windscreen of the vehicle being filmed from is cracked and shooting can then be heard lasting for several minutes as the person filming says prayers. He is understood to be one of the dead paramedics.

The footage was found on his phone after his body was recovered from a shallow grave one week after the incident. The bodies of the eight paramedics, six Gaza Civil Defence workers and one UN employee were found buried in sand, along with their wrecked vehicles. It took international organisations days to negotiate safe access to the site.

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Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier this week echoed the army account, saying "the IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance".