GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society on Saturday said that Israeli forces are obstructing efforts to locate nine missing medical workers in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in southern Gaza.

The group said it lost contact with its team during operations in the area and has been unable to confirm their status despite ongoing search efforts.

According to the statement, Israel has barred rescue teams from entering the zone to search for the missing staff.

The Red Crescent said it holds Israel “fully responsible for the safety and well-being of its staff, particularly as initial reports from the team indicated that they were subjected to heavy Israeli gunfire, which led to injuries among several members.”

It called on the international community to “pressure Israel to reveal the whereabouts of the missing medical teams and to take concrete steps to ensure the protection of medical personnel working in conflict zones.”

The team went missing Sunday while assisting civilians affected by Israeli air and artillery strikes.

That same day, contact was also lost with five members of the Civil Defense, including firefighters and paramedics.

On Thursday, humanitarian teams coordinated by the United Nations discovered dismembered remains of one Civil Defense worker in the area, according to the Civil Defense.

The Israeli army launched a ground and aerial offensive Sunday in Tel al-Sultan, killing and injuring civilians and trapping thousands, the Gaza government media office said.

The offensive targeted and surrounded both Red Crescent and Civil Defense teams, the statement added.

In a related incident, Israeli forces detained 15 emergency workers in Rafah while they were on duty, according to the Civil Defense.

Israel began a surprise aerial campaign on Gaza on March 18, killing over 920 people and injuring more than 2,000, collapsing the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.

Since October 2023, more than 50,200 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been killed, with over 114,000 injured.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.