The bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense, and the United Nations have been recovered from a grave in the sand in southern Gaza, U.N. officials confirmed on Monday.

Calls for Accountability

U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher stated that the bodies were found buried near “wrecked & well-marked vehicles” and alleged that the workers were “killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives.” Fletcher called for “answers & justice” in a post on X.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), condemned the treatment of the victims, saying their bodies had been “discarded in shallow graves—a profound violation of human dignity.” Lazzarini noted that this incident brought the total number of aid workers killed in Gaza since the start of the war to 408.

Israeli Military Response

The Israeli military did not directly comment on the deaths of the Red Crescent workers but stated that it had facilitated the evacuation of the bodies from what it described as an “active combat zone.” The military did not clarify why the bodies were buried in the sand or why the aid vehicles were found crushed.

In a separate statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that on March 23, its troops fired on a convoy that included ambulances and fire trucks. The IDF stated that the vehicles approached a military position “without prior coordination and without headlights or emergency signals.” The military further claimed that several Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were killed in the incident.

“The IDF condemns the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes,” the statement read.

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

Humanitarian Organizations Outraged

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed shock over the deaths, emphasizing that the workers were risking their lives to provide aid. “Their bodies were identified today and have been recovered for dignified burial,” the ICRC said in a statement.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported that, in addition to nine Red Crescent members, it had recovered the remains of six civil defense personnel and one U.N. worker from the same site. One additional Red Crescent worker remains missing.

Jonathan Whittall, Gaza head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), described the burial site as a “mass grave,” noting that it was marked by the emergency light of a crushed ambulance. An OCHA spokesperson added that the mound of sand appeared to have been created by a bulldozer rather than by the impact of an explosion.

“The available information indicates that the first team was killed by Israeli forces on 23 March, and that other emergency and aid crews were struck one after another over several hours as they searched for their missing colleagues,” the spokesperson said.

A still taken from a handout drone video made available by World Central Kitchen (WCK) shows the Open Arms NGO rescue vessel (C) being towed at open sea dragging a barge (R) loaded with food aid provided by WCK, as it leaves port headed for the Gaza Strip, in Larnaca, Cyprus, 12 March 2024. EPA/WCK HANDOUT BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Humanitarian Impact

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) called this the deadliest single attack on Red Cross or Red Crescent workers since 2017.

“I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain. “They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked.”

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed, according to U.N. figures. Due to growing security concerns, the U.N. has announced plans to reduce its international staff in Gaza by a third.