Other than the sounds of heavy artillery fire and constant buzz of attack drones, people in Gaza are also dealing with a heart-wrenching story of a missing rescue team who disappeared seven days ago.

The paramedics went to the Tal as-Sultan neighborhood in Gaza’s southern Rafah city to save Palestinians wounded during Israeli bombing and ground assaults.

Those who managed to escape reported executions of many people by Israeli troops. Over the past few days, in cooperation with the United Nations, the Palestine Red Crescent Society managed to get close to the area where the ambulances went missing.

What they found was the wreckage of the vehicles, largely buried under piles of sand. Testimonies from people who happened to be at the site said the rescue team was executed and buried by the Israeli military. There are no signs they’re still alive.

The Israeli army is not providing answers and deliberately prevented coordination among international organisations for a proper search for the 14 missing civil defence and Red Crescent workers.

On Saturday, the Israeli army admitted its troops had opened fire on ambulances in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Basem Naim has accused Israel of carrying out “a deliberate and brutal massacre” against Palestine Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams in southern Gaza’s Rafah city.

“The targeted killing of rescue workers – who are protected under international humanitarian law – constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime,” said Naim.

‘Nations of the world cannot allow this crime against humanity to continue’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has welcomed comments by the United Nations that described Israel’s military conduct in Gaza as “atrocity crimes”.

CAIR also called for a UN investigation into the reported execution of Palestinian ambulance crew and civil defence rescuers in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan district.

“The fact that the Israeli government has been committing atrocities in Gaza is perhaps the understatement of the century. The horrors witnessed since the commencement of Israel’s campaign of mass slaughter in Gaza have shaken the world,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s deputy executive director, in a statement.

“The United States and the nations of the world cannot allow this crime against humanity to continue. The Israeli government must be prevented from committing further atrocities and must be held accountable for the war crimes it has committed with impunity.”

(Source: Al Jazeera)