Three Palestinian paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City while performing their humanitarian duties—rescuing the wounded and retrieving the dead from beneath the rubble.
Medical sources confirmed that the victims were Hussein Muheisen, Wael Al-Attar, and Bara’a Fares Afaneh. They lost their lives while attempting to reach victims of a previous bombing in the same area—an egregious violation of international humanitarian law, which explicitly prohibits targeting medical personnel and guarantees them full protection during armed conflicts.
With this attack, the number of medical workers killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s assault on October 7, 2023, has risen to nearly 1,580. The health system is now on the verge of total collapse due to systematic bombings of hospitals and ambulance centers, in addition to the suffocating blockade and the ongoing prevention of medical supplies and fuel from entering the Strip.
This crime is part of a consistent policy pursued by Israeli forces—deliberately targeting the basic infrastructure of life, including hospitals and ambulances—in blatant violation of the core articles of the Geneva Conventions, which criminalize attacks on medical personnel and consider such acts war crimes.
The Gaza Strip has turned into a disaster zone by every definition, where more than 2.4 million people are enduring relentless bombardment, starvation, and deprivation. Recent statistics indicate over 181,000 people have been killed or wounded—most of them women and children—alongside more than 11,000 missing and about 1.5 million displaced who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Meanwhile, famine has spread, claiming the lives of many children, exacerbated by a blockade that has lasted 18 years and intensified drastically in recent months.
The ongoing war in Gaza has surpassed the bounds of armed conflict and now constitutes a full-scale genocide. It is being carried out through a systematic campaign of destruction, mass killing, and deliberate starvation targeting the essential means of survival for civilians. This is happening amid international complicity and political silence, despite repeated legal warnings that these actions amount to crimes against humanity under international standards.
The targeting of medics while performing their humanitarian duty is a double crime—it not only violates international law but strikes at the final lifeline for civilians under fire. This crime, like those before it, demands urgent and effective international action to protect civilians and ensure legal accountability for the perpetrators, regardless of their rank or power.
