In Gaza, the horror seems to never end. The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) said it was “shocked” after the dismembered body of Anwar Abdel Hamid al-Attar, head of the rescue mission who disappeared a week ago in Tal as-Sultan, south of Rafah, was found. Destroyed ambulances and fire engines were also discovered at the site, buried under rubble and unrecognizable, Al Jazeera reports. In a statement, the PRCS - according to which a total of 9 rescuers are missing - said that torn pieces of equipment belonging to the missing team had been found.

Witnesses quoted by the broadcaster say the entire team was executed and buried by the Israeli army. The IDF has already admitted to hitting ambulances. This news comes as the IDF continues to bombard and order evacuations, with the toll of Palestinians killed by Israel since the ceasefire broke on March 18 continuing to rise: 921 so far. The Islamic militia has meanwhile released a video in which the hostage Elkana Bohbot, kidnapped at the Nova festival, appears again. This while the diplomatic stalemate continues.

Egyptian sources, however, say there is a proposal to suspend hostilities for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, and then agree on a broader truce. An Israeli official told the Walla website that Hamas would agree to release five hostages alive in exchange for a 50-day truce starting from Eid. Israel confirmed it had received a proposal from mediators, without providing details. The day after the rescuers disappeared, Gaza's civil defense agency said in a statement that it had no news of a team of six people, urgently sent to Tal al-Sulta, where there were dead and wounded. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau (who had already reported the discovery of bodies last night), accused Israel of having carried out "a deliberate and brutal massacre against the teams of the Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent in the city of Rafah." “The targeted killing of rescue workers, protected by international humanitarian law, constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime.”

The Israeli military has admitted to shooting at ambulances in the Gaza Strip after identifying them as "suspicious vehicles." The IDF previously said it had "opened fire at Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists." "A few minutes later, other vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops," who "responded by shooting at the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists." "After an initial investigation," it added, " it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles were ambulances and fire trucks," condemning what it said was "the repeated use of emergency vehicles" by "terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, the violence of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, covered by the Israeli army and police, does not cease. About fifteen of them attacked the Palestinian village of Jinba, near Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank, beating residents with sticks and stones. Footage from a security camera shows masked settlers, some armed, attacking a Palestinian family and injuring several people, including a 16-year-old in intensive care. In Jinba itself, a Palestinian school was vandalized. More than 20 Palestinians were arrested for throwing stones, but no settlers.

(Online Union)

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