Xinhua
03 Apr 2025

"It was shocking to find medical workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Civil Defense, still in their uniforms, still wearing gloves. They were killed while trying to save lives."

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Gaza has become "a death trap" amidst "a war without limits," a UN humanitarian official has said.

Jonathan Whittall, acting director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Wednesday described what is happening in the Gaza Strip as "an endless loop of blood, pain and death."

"I've recently, together with my colleagues, coordinated a mission in Rafah that uncovered a mass grave of medics," he told reporters via video link from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza about the killing of humanitarians on March 23, including a UN worker.

"It was shocking to find medical workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Civil Defense, still in their uniforms, still wearing gloves. They were killed while trying to save lives," he said.

The medical workers, Whittall said, were dispatched into Rafah as Israeli forces were advancing into the area. The ambulances were hit one by one as they advanced. The mass grave in which they were buried was marked by the emergency light from one of the vehicles crushed by Israeli forces. In the grave were the ambulances, the fire truck, a UN vehicle and the bodies of those killed.

On that recovery operation, Whittall said, "We saw people running towards us under fire and being shot in their backs."

He said UN premises were recently hit by tank fire, killing one of his colleagues and seriously injuring others.

"We've had international aid compounds and hospitals that have been hit," said Whittall. "We've seen municipal workers that have been killed in humanitarian-donated trucks."

He said food distribution points were bombed and aid workers killed. Humanitarian warehouses were also damaged in strikes. "And since the ceasefire collapsed two weeks ago, forced displacement orders are back," he said.

"So, in the last two days alone, we've had around 100,000 people that have been displaced out of Rafah, many of them fleeing under fire," Whittall said.

"My colleagues tell me they just want to die with their families. Their worst fear is to survive alone," he said.

Deeply alarmed by the death toll from the intensified hostilities in Gaza, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "condemns the reported killing of over a thousand people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire," said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"He is also shocked by the attack of the Israeli army on a medical and emergency convoy on March 23, resulting in the killing of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian workers in Gaza," the spokesman said. "Medical personnel and humanitarian and emergency workers must be protected by all parties to the conflict at all times, as required by international humanitarian law."

Guterres called for immediate restoration of the ceasefire, immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

At least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with around 280 being UN staff, UN data showed.

Joyce Msuya, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, stressed at the Security Council on Wednesday that attacks on aid workers must end, and perpetrators must be held accountable.