Shortly before 8:58 AM on Sunday, February 16th 2025, three Palestinian police officers working to secure the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip were killed alongside one person, and four people, including one police officer, were injured as a result of an Israeli artillery and/or drone strike on a police security vehicle in the Al-Shakwa area of Rafah, near the airport in the southern Gaza Strip.

The three Palestinian officers were identified as 19-year-old Ibrahim Saadi Muhammad  Al-Zamili, 23-year-old Youssef Khaled Ibrahim Al-Zamili, and 25-year-old Bilal Ahmed Ali l-Maghari. The one injured officer was identified as Moamen Nader Abo Sharekh. The three deceased police officers were taken to the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Airwars’ researchers identified the age of the victims using Shireen Monitor, an organisation that has a list of “Martyrs of Palestine” from 2023 onward and includes thousands of names.

The Twitter/X account @Sa7atPlBreaking reported the incident at 8:58 AM, sharing graphic images of the two killed Palestinian policemen. At 8:59 AM, the media updated the information, stating that the number of policemen killed was three. Several news sources and social media users also shared the news about the death of the three Palestinian police officers. For example, @AJArabicnet (Al-Jazeera) shared on Twitter/X, “Three police officers were killed in #Gaza as a result of Israeli shelling targeting them while they were deployed to secure aid east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.” A Facebook post by Almagharibia TV stated that the attack injured four people, some of whom were in critical condition.

Referring to the Palestinian Information Center, the Radio Masr News reported that the deadly attack took the lives of four people, though the identity of the fourth victim was not found online, and injured a number of civilians:  “Four Palestinians, including three policemen, were martyred and others were injured in the Gaza Strip today, Sunday, as a result of Israeli shelling on the eastern city of Rafah…” They also added that the Ministry of Interior in the Hamas government released a statement on the incident, calling it a violation of the ceasefire agreement from January 19.

Al-Jazeera Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) shared a video showing the funerals of the victims. The video began with showing two paramedics carrying a body wrapped in a white cloth on a stretcher. Later, it showed a grieving young man who was crying near the bodies and being comforted by another man, and other people bidding farewell to the three deceased.

A video posted by @PalinfoAr also shared the emotional farewell that colleagues and relatives bid to the victims. The bodies of the victims were lying on the floor in white shrouds with their faces uncovered. Two young boys were shown crying at the end of the video. On Facebook, Mjd Hwihi shared that the strike destroyed a police security vehicle, which resulted in the death of three policemen.

Alanbatnews shared a picture of the possible drone attack showing large-scale infrastructural damage to what looks like residential buildings with massive smoke clouds.

The Ministry of Interior and National Security announced the martyrdom of two police officers and the serious injury of a third one during their deployment to protect aid in the al-Shawka area this morning. In a brief statement, the ministry condemned the “Israeli crime”, calling on mediators and the international community to take urgent action to stop targeting the police force, which is a civil institution working to maintain security and organize citizens’ affairs.

Abo Adham Al Zamli, a relative of the deceased Yousef Khaled Al-Zamili and Ibrahim Saadi Al-Zamili, posted his sympathies on Facebook, “We ask God to have mercy on those who stood firm, were patient, and stayed up late for the security and comfort of the citizens, and to make them with the prophets and martyrs, and good are those companions.” They also shared pictures of the two. Ibrahim was a young man with short dark hair dressed in a grey hoodie. Yousef was pictured dressed in a black jacket with a hood.

Nader Abo Sharekh, the father of Moamen Nader Abo Sharekh who was the sole survivor from the police vehicle that was struck, shared condolences for the three deceased on Facebook, along with a picture of Moamen Nader who was a young man with dressed in a white shirt. He wrote, “Thank God Almighty for the safety of my son, Moamen Nader, who, by God’s grace, escaped certain death after an Israeli convoy of the Aid Security Police was bombed with at least one missile, and three of his comrades on the patrol were killed.”

Abo Al Abed Mughari, a relative of Bilal Ali Al-Maghari, shared “Bilal Ali Al-Maghari was martyred as a result of the bombing of the aid delivery vehicle this morning east of Rafah, along with two of his colleagues…May God have mercy on them, forgive them, and grant them a place in His spacious gardens, and inspire their families and relatives with patience and solace. To God we belong and to Him we shall return,” along with an image of Bilal with short dark hair, a trimmed beard, and an average build dressed in a light-green hoodie with an inscription.

Multiple other messages of condolence were posted by other relatives of the three killed and social media users.

Ramallah News shared an image of the burnt vehicle surrounded by multiple onlookers with the inscription, “The Israeli occupation violates the truce and bombs a police security vehicle in #Rafah.”

In its statement posted on the Telegram channel, the same day at 15:24, the Israeli Defense Forces admitted to striking some vehicles in the Gaza Strip, but the strikes mentioned were likely not related to the current incident as the statement mentioned the central Gaza while this incident happened in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. The statement reads, “Earlier today (Sunday), the IAF fired to distance suspicious vehicles that were advancing northward from central Gaza. The vehicles were traveling along a route unauthorized for passage under the ceasefire agreement and proceeded without inspection, thus violating the terms of the agreement.”

Where sources identified belligerents, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.