Gaza - Tal As Sultan aftermath - 30 March 2025

Description

STORY: OCHA / GAZA TAL AS SULTAN AFTERMATH
TRT: 7:23
SOURCE: OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OCHA ON SCREEN
SOUND: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE 26, 27, 30 MARCH 2025, TAL-AS-SULTAN, RAFAH

Shotlist

WARNING - The following video may include content which some viewers might find disturbing
26 MARCH 2025
1. Wide shot, UN Convoy approaching Tal As Sultan, finding wrecked UN car on the road
2. Still picture, UN staff checking for human remains
3. Wide shot from within UN veichle, Near Tal-As-Sultan, two people are seen trying to escape sniper fire. A woman was shot in the back of the head. A young man trying to retrieve her was also shot. The OCHA team managed to recover her body in the UN vehicle.
27 MARCH 2025
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office OCHA OPT
“We’ve arrived at the site where the ambulances were hit. These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There's a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer - Israeli forces bulldozer has buried them. We’re now looking for the bodies of those that were in these medical and humanitarian vehicles.”
5. Various shots, PRCS, PCD and OCHA recovering a body
6. Wide shot, bulldozer removing ambulance wreckage
7.Wide shot, PCD worker going through personal effects found in the sand
8. Wide shot, PCD and PCRS members digging in the sand looking for their colleagues’ remains
9. various shots, Civil Defence bulldozer removing wreckage
30 MARCH 2025
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Whittall, Head of Office OCHA OPT
“Health workers should never be a target. And yet, we're here today, digging up a mass grave of first responders and paramedics. Seven days ago, Civil Defense 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. We're digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave. Their vehicles, their ambulances, UN vehicles, civil defense vehicles are crushed and dumped, covered in sand next to us. It's absolute horror what has happened here. This should never happen. healthcare workers should never be a target.”
11. various shots, PRCS, CD and OCHA staffers digging through the sand and recovering bodies
12. various shots, crowds at Nasser hospital, waiting for the team returning with the bodies recovered in Tal As Sultan

Storyline

On 30 March, a complex, week-long rescue operation concluded with the recovery of the bodies of 15 of colleagues: eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six from the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) and one from the United Nations. Their co-workers found them buried in the Tal As Sultan area of Rafah, in southern Gaza. The available information indicates that the first team was killed by Israeli forces on 23 March, and that other emergency and aid crews were struck one after another over several hours as they searched for their missing colleagues. They were buried under the sand, alongside their wrecked emergency vehicles – clearly marked ambulances, a fire truck and a UN car. The first body was recovered on 27 March, and the remaining 14 bodies were recovered today. OCHA took part in the recovery efforts on behalf of the UN, coordinating access with the Israeli authorities – who identified the area where forces had buried the bodies.