On the night of March 23, paramedic Hassan Hosni Al-Hila was too ill to continue his shift with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. His 21-year-old son, Mohammad, volunteered to take his place. It would be Mohammad’s final assignment.
Dispatched as part of a convoy searching for a missing ambulance crew in Rafah, southern Gaza, the young paramedic soon found himself under heavy Israeli military fire. In a frantic phone call, he pleaded with his father: “Come to me, Dad, help me… we were targeted by the Israelis, and they are now shooting at us directly,” Hassan recalled. Then, the line went dead.
For more than a week, Mohammad’s fate remained uncertain. When rescue teams were finally granted access to the site by the Israeli military, they discovered a devastating scene: a mass grave containing the bodies of 15 first responders buried alongside their destroyed emergency vehicles.
Emerging evidence has sharply challenged the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) original account, which claimed—without offering proof—that some emergency vehicles had moved “suspiciously,” without headlights or flashing signals, and that militants may have been among the crews. However, a CNN investigation, drawing on video evidence, satellite imagery, photographs, forensic analysis, and interviews with survivors and family members, paints a starkly different picture. It details the Israeli military’s direct targeting and subsequent burial of clearly marked rescue teams from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Palestinian Civil Defense, and the United Nations.
CNN also reviewed exclusive audio recorded by a medical worker during his final moments, along with testimony from a survivor, both of which contradict Israel’s narrative.
By March 30, after a week-long rescue mission, the remains of 15 emergency workers were recovered: eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, six from the Palestinian Civil Defense, and one from the UN. The footage, first published by The New York Times and later obtained by CNN from PRCS, shows ambulances and a fire truck operating with emergency lights on—contradicting Israeli claims of suspicious activity.
In response, the IDF announced Monday that it had reopened its investigation. Following a briefing on preliminary findings, the IDF Chief of Staff ordered a deeper inquiry to be carried out by a formal investigation mechanism within days. “All claims regarding the incident will be reviewed thoroughly and presented in detail for a decision on how to proceed,” the IDF stated.
An Israeli military official said a brigade stationed nearby had opened fire after deeming the convoy’s movements “suspicious,” believing it had just taken part in a successful strike on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets.
Families and colleagues of the slain medics strongly refute the suggestion that any of them were militants and are calling for an independent investigation into the killings.
When Hassan finally saw his son’s body—riddled with bullet wounds—he was overwhelmed with grief. “I told him, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t join you,’” he said. “If I hadn’t gone home, we would have been on that mission together
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