In a series of deadly Israeli shootings in the early hours of March 23, 2025, six Civil Defense members were shot dead in the Al-Hashashin area in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. All the victims had been dispatched to help Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) members who had gone missing and were also later found dead (documented in ISPT230325z). The Civil Defense members were found buried in sand with their destroyed fire engine. The victims’ bodies were found on March 27th and 30th, 2025, after a week of ongoing search efforts.

The Civil Defense spokesman provided the names of the Civil Defense members who had been killed: paramedic Yousef Rasem Khalifa (Abu Osama), ambulance driver Fouad Ibrahim al-Jamal (Abu Ibrahim), fire engine driver Zuhair Abdul Hamid al-Farra (Abd al-Abd), mission commander Anwar Abdel Hamid al-Attar, firefighter Samir Yahya al-Bahabsa, and firefighter Ibrahim al-Maghari.

According to CNN, the Civil Defense vehicles were dispatched along with additional PRCS ambulances when contact was lost with the initial PRCS crew. Sky News placed the time of the Civil Defense fire engine arriving near the PRCS ambulances at 5:07am.

Fifty-year-old Lieutenant Colonel (his rank in the Civil Defense) Fouad Ibrahim al-Jamal was memorialized by his oldest son Ibrahim who referred to his father as a “martyr of the duty of humanity” and included an image of Fouad sitting on a couch in a black Nike track suit smiling. Abu Zakaria endearingly referred to his brother-in-law Fouad as “my brother not born of my mother” in mourning his loss, and included an image of Fouad in his Civil Defense uniform. Another son of Fouad, Mohammed al-Jamal lamented how proud he was of his father for his work: “How many nights you used to stay up in the service of the steadfast people, conquering the enemy. You used to stay up all night in the service of the steadfast people, conquering the enemy. You used to stay up all night with the ambulance and never leave it.” Mohammed’s post was accompanied by an image of Fouad standing infront of a Civil Defense ambulance.

Forty-one-year-old Yousef Khalifa was reported as missing by his brother-in-law Alaa Salama, who wrote on the 23rd that contact had been lost since the morning while “He was on a humanitarian mission accompanied by Civil Defense and Red Crescent officers to rescue injured and besieged citizens in Rafah” along with an image of Yousef in his red Civil Defense uniform. Yousef was later mourned by friends and family, including cousin Ali Khalifa, nephew Hussein Rafat Khalifa, nephew Mohammed F Khalifa, nephew Qusay Fares, brother-in-law Abo Ahmed Khalifa, and others, where many described Yousef as a hero and described his commitment to his profession and his humanitarian duty.

A video posted by journalist Moaz Al-Hamas which is titled “An earlier meeting with loved ones during a humanitarian mission in west Rafah” shows a moment of down-time when five Civil Defense workers, including Fouad al-Jamal and Yousef Khalifa, are seen sharing laughs and tea.

Moaz Al-Hamas described “one of the men closest to my heart and mind” 53-year-old Zuhair Abdul Hamid al-Farra as an “elderly man with youthful energy, who always goes the extra mile,” adding “How many lives has he saved by responding to a call for help, whether it’s a fire here, a damage there, or a person fighting for their lives?” Moaz then told a touching story of a time when he accompanied Zuhair during the group operations in Rafah: “During the evacuation of the eastern part of the city, we received a distress call for the injured and martyrs in the Khirbet al-Adas area. As you know, the area is extremely dangerous due to the army’s presence there. Along the way, he reassured the rest of the firefighting crew, telling them that they were on the most noble and delicate humanitarian mission known to history.” Moaz included two images of himself with Zuhair, and neighbor Hesham Adli included an image of Zuhair in his Civil Defense uniform standing infront of a fire engine. Zuhair was also mourned by his sons Aez al-Farra and Imad al-Farra, who posted a video of their father cheerfully playing with a toddler.

The head of the Civil Defense mission, 51-year-old Anwar Abdel Hamid al-Attar, was the first body found among the wreckage and sand. Images posted by Rima Hadjab taken during the funeral for Anwar show a group of men, including fellow paramedic, praying over his body, and in another, a group of women tearfully say goodbye to the body of Anwar. In a video from Barbieri Massimo, the daughter of Anwar can be heard tearfully saying “I’m the daughter of a hero, Hold your head high, mother” as she says goodbye to the body of her father.

Twenty-six-year-old Samir Yahya al-Bahabsa was reported missing by Al Meshal Mohammed on May 24th – the post included an image of Samir in a clothing store. Samir was later mourned by Zayed Abu Samhadana, who described him as “a man of good manners and morals” and cousin Juhina al-Bahabsa who included an image of Samir smiling infront of a brick entry-way.

Ibrahim al-Maghari, a 24-year-old man, was mourned by his cousins Abo Yaser [al-Maghari] and Ameer Mohammed, and both included an image of Samir in an all-black uniform standing infront of a truck. Neighbor Moaead Ahmad described Ibrahim as a “man of noble character” and included an image of him posing on a deserted city street.

Timeline of the consequent events – from the disappearance of the ambulances to the recovery of bodies

The Palestinian Information Center issued an initial statement from the Civil Defense on March 23rd that “We lost contact with our crew in the barracks area west of Rafah while attempting to rescue a Red Crescent ambulance crew. Our crews trapped in Rafah are wearing official uniforms, and the [Israeli military] knows their presence and identities. The [Israeli military] is not responding to calls to rescue our trapped crews, and their lives are in danger. We do not know the fate of six of our crews trapped in the barracks area in Rafah.”

For a week, the fate of the six Civil Defense members who had been dispatched to help the PRCS members was unknown. Sufyan Ahmed, a member of the Civil Defence team involved in the effort to recover the victims’ bodies, told Euro-Med Monitor that “As soon as the incident occurred, we entered the site west of Rafah with OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) crews. The Israeli army told OCHA that the bodies of the victims were found next to a fire truck and an electrical pole. Using a small bulldozer, we started our excavation at the spot the army had designated. One body was discovered. After examining it, it was determined to be the body of the mission leader, Anwar Abdel Hamid al-Attar.”

On March 27, 2025, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced its entry into the Tal al-Sultan area of ​​Rafah, in coordination with UN OCHA, and the recovery of the body of one civil defense worker. According to Sky News, this was when Anwar al-Attar’s body had been found, “buried beneath the crushed remains of his fire engine”. Sufyan Ahmed told Euro-Med Monitor that they had only been given a limited amount of time to search, so “We went to the site the following day and waited at a nearby location, awaiting the army’s approval to enter. After roughly five hours, we were told that entry was refused, so we departed. The following day, we anticipated being granted access to the site, but were still denied permission. After a few days of waiting, we received approval yesterday, Sunday, and were able to access the site. We were told that the army would stay with us until they told us where the bodies were interred so that we could start the excavation process.”

On March 30, 2025, the Palestinian Information Center quoted the Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal who announced that after eight days, the bodies of six Civil Defense members had been recovered (along with the bodies of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society members who were killed and are documented in ISPT230325z).

According to Sky News, the search team was directed to a “mount of sand on the eastern side of the road” on March 30th by a quadcopter drone which was blaring the instructions from the voice of an Israeli official. Civil Defense member Sufyan Ahmed recalled that “When we got to the site, a quadcopter was flying overhead, showing us where the bodies were buried. We received a sign pointing to the graveyard from the drone. We were shocked to learn that the designated site was far from the one where we had previously been informed the bodies were interred.”

Circumstances of the shooting and allegations of execution

UN OCHA released a video featuring the excavation of the victims’ bodies. Jonathan Whittall, OCHA OPT Head of Office, said in the video, “Health workers should never be a target. And yet, we are here today, digging up a mass grave of first responders and paramedics. Seven days ago, Civil Defense and PRSC ambulances arrived at the scene. One by one, they were hit, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave. We are digging them out in uniforms, with their gloves still on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave. Their vehicles, ambulances, civil defense vehicles, and UN vehicles are crushed and dumped, covered in sand next to us. It’s absolute horror what happened here. This should never happen. Health workers should never be a target.”

The Guardian also reported on the incident, quoting a forensic doctor who examined the bodies of 15 Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defense paramedics and aid workers besieged and killed by the Israeli army in Rafah. Ahmed Zaher (Dhair), a forensic consultant who examined five of the bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said there was evidence they were executed, based on the specific locations of the bullet wounds, which were deliberately shot at close range.

He added, “All of the cases had multiple bullet wounds, except for one, whose type could not be determined because the body had been mauled by animals such as dogs, leaving it looking like a skeleton.” Zaher added, “Initial analysis indicates that they were executed at close range, as the bullet wounds were specific and deliberate. One bullet hit the head of one, another the heart, and a third was hit by six or seven bullets in the upper body.”

A CNN report also mentioned a “forensic pathologist examining the bodies of the emergency responders,” without indicating his name, who told the media that their autopsies had shown bullet wounds.

The Guardian further added that witnesses who recovered the bodies said they saw bodies with their hands and feet bound, indicating that the workers had been detained before being killed. However, Ahmed Zaher noted that the five bodies he examined showed no signs of binding on their hands or feet due to their state of decomposition.

IDF statements

Note that the following section contains details of IDF statements given for both this incident and ISPT230325z, which Airwars has documented separately.

The Israeli military claimed to have killed a Hamas member, identified as Mohammed Amin Ibrahim al-Shoubaki, along with eight other members of “Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” Mohammed al-Shoubaki allegedly participated in the October 7th events.

In its press release on April 2, 2025, the IDF claimed that the ambulances were used by “terrorists”. The press release reads, “IDF troops operating in southern Gaza opened fire toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists. A few minutes afterward, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops. An initial inquiry indicates that the vehicles were moving without prior coordination, and without headlights or emergency signals.

The troops responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. After an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles that were moving towards the troops were ambulances and fire trucks.  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.”

Mohammed al-Shoubaki was not among the bodies recovered from the mass grave, according to the report by the Guardian. According to the NYT report, the Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations have previously said all of those killed were humanitarian workers who should never have come under attack. Also, the survivor of the incident, paramedic Munther Abed, told CNN that he does not know anybody by the name al-Shoubaki, nor had he heard it before.

On April 20, 2025, the IDF released another statement issued after the examination into the incident in which rescue teams and vehicles were struck in the Gaza Strip by IDF troops’ fire was conducted by the General Staff Fact Finding Mechanism, led by MG (res.) Yoav Har-Even and was presented to the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir. According to the statement, “the findings show that the incident occurred in a hostile and dangerous combat zone, under a widespread threat to the operating troops.”

In its lengthy investigation, Sky News dismissed the IDF’s claims that the place of the incident was a “combat zone.” The evacuation order for the area was only issued at 8.31 am, almost four-and-a-half hours after the first ambulance was attacked.

The IDF listed three shooting incidents that occurred on March 23, 2025, where the first of them was shooting at the vehicle identified as a Hamas vehicle; the second one – at arriving ambulances; and the third – at the UN vehicle. The Israeli military admitted firing at five vehicles, which it allegedly did not recognize as ambulances in the episode of the second shooting, and killing 15 Palestinians as a result:

“Due to poor night visibility, the deputy commander did not initially recognize the vehicles as ambulances. Only later, after approaching the vehicles and scanning them, was it discovered that these were indeed rescue teams,” the statement said. It added, “Supporting surveillance had reported five vehicles approaching rapidly and stopping near the troops, with passengers quickly disembarking. The deputy battalion commander assessed the vehicles as employed by Hamas forces, who arrived to assist the first vehicle’s passengers. Under this impression and sense of threat, he ordered to open fire.”

The IDF also denied the allegations of executing the paramedics and dismissed them as “blood libels and false accusations against IDF soldiers.” According to the statement, the next day at dawn, the Israeli military decided to gather and cover the bodies in order “to prevent further harm and clear the vehicles from the route in preparation for civilian evacuation,” the task which was carried out by field commanders. The examination of the incident concluded that removing the bodies was reasonable under the circumstances, but the decision to crush the vehicles was wrong. In general, there was no attempt to conceal the event, which was discussed with international organizations and the UN, including coordination for the removal of bodies.

In its report of the incident released on April 7, 2025, CNN published a video discovered on the phone of one of the nine deceased paramedics, Refaat Radwan, capturing their final moments before being killed by the Israeli military. This video was initially received by the New York Times. After obtaining this video, the PRCS sent a copy of the footage to the UN Security Council. A UN diplomat leaked the footage to The New York Times, which was the first outlet to post it.

According to Al Jazeera, Refaat was filming from the third ambulance in a convoy, which included the fire engine with the Civil Defense workers that had gone out to find a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance that had lost contact with its base.

The video that began at 4:55 AM showed that contrary to the claims of the Israeli military, the ambulances and a fire truck had emergency lights on as Israeli forces unleashed their barrage. In particular, the NYT described the video in detail: “Filmed from what appears to be the front interior of a moving vehicle, it shows a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck, clearly marked, with headlights and flashing lights turned on, driving south on a road to the north of Rafah in the early morning. The first rays of the sun can be seen, and birds are chirping. The convoy stops when it encounters a vehicle that has veered onto the side of the road — one ambulance had been sent earlier to aid wounded civilians and had come under attack. The new rescue vehicles detour to the side of the road. Rescue workers, at least two of whom can be seen wearing uniforms, are seen exiting a fire truck and an ambulance marked with the emblem of the Red Crescent and approaching the ambulance derailed to the side. Then, sounds of intense gunfire break out.”

The IDF informed that as a result of the examination, the deputy commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion will be dismissed from his position due to his responsibilities as the field commander in this incident and for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief.

The IDF also regretted causing harm to “uninvolved civilians”. Still, even recognizing the civilian harm resulting from the shooting, the IDF continued to claim that six casualties were identified in a retrospective examination as “Hamas terrorists.” However, it failed to provide their names or any further evidence. A toll of 0-6 militants killed has been accounted for in this incident and incident ISPT230325z until further information is found.

According to CNN, family members and colleagues of the paramedics and civil defense workers vehemently denied that any of the workers were militants and are calling for an independent investigation into the killings.

Images of aftermath

Images published by the Civil Defense show emergency crew members from the PRCS and Civil Defense digging through a large hole in the sand, and other images show the remains of the fire engine, which was completely crushed and shredded to the point that it is barely recognizable.