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The bodies of 15 medical and humanitarian workers have been uncovered in what the UN described as a “mass grave” in the Tal Al-Sultan area of the southern city of Rafah.

The victims included one UN worker, six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD), and eight members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). One person remains missing, according to reports.

“Health workers should never be a target, and yet, we’re here today, digging up a mass grave of first responders and paramedics,” The head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) for Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, said.

“Seven days ago, civil defence and PRCS ambulances arrived at the scene. One by one, they were hit, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave,” he added in a post on

According to Whittall, the workers were dug out still in uniform with their gloves on.

Their remains were discovered alongside their emergency vehicles, which included a marked ambulance, a fire truck and a UN car. The searches, which lasted a week, concluded on Sunday.

According to the UN aid agency, the first team of workers was killed on 23 March by the Israeli army. Later, additional emergency and aid crews were dispatched to search for their missing colleagues, who were then also fired upon over several hours.

The Israeli military said it opened fire on “suspicious vehicles,” including ambulances and fire trucks believed to be used as cover by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.

The OCHA worked alongside the search party on behalf of the UN to recover the bodies, the first of which was found last Thursday, while the others were uncovered on Sunday.

The search party coordinated access with the Israeli authorities. Meanwhile, Israeli forces identified the area where the bodies had been buried, according to reports.