UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned on Wednesday Israel's killing of 15 humanitarian workers during its targeting of a medical and humanitarian convoy in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, last month.
"I condemn the Israeli military's attack on a medical and humanitarian convoy on March 23, which resulted in the deaths of 15 medical and humanitarian workers in Gaza," Turk said via Twitter.
He added that finding the victims' bodies in Rafah eight days later, buried next to their clearly marked, destroyed vehicles, "is deeply disturbing and raises fundamental questions about the Israeli military's conduct during and after the incident."
The UN Commissioner called for the protection of medical personnel and humanitarian and emergency workers, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
On March 23, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that it had dispatched four ambulances and their crews to rescue people wounded in an Israeli attack in the Rafah area. The society noted that the victims were surrounded by the Israeli army, which resulted in a number of injuries.
On the same day, the Civil Protection Unit in Gaza lost contact with its teams, which had gone out to rescue Palestinian Red Crescent crews.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced the recovery of 14 bodies following an Israeli bombardment in the city of Rafah about a week ago. The bodies included eight members of its crew, five members of the Civil Defense, and an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
This came days after the Palestinian Civil Defense announced the recovery of one of its members from the same team who was killed by Israeli occupation forces, bringing the death toll from the massacre to 15.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 1,513 humanitarian personnel, according to the government media office in Gaza.