Gaza caregivers tell about deadly Israeli attack on ambulance, playing against UN charges

A Palestinian paramedic was present in the incident, which was killed last month in southern Gaza, and he witnessed Israeli forces opening fire on emergency vehicles, and later he saw blood stained.

After days of uncertainty about the whereabouts of nursing staff, Red Crescent and UN officials found bodies of 15 emergency situations and buried aid workers in a large grave in southern Gaza, accusing Israeli forces of killing them. Another worker is still missing.

Munther Abed, a volunteer with the Palestinian Red Crescent, said he responded to a phone call with two colleagues near Rafa, the Southern Gaza Strip, on March 23, when he was detained by Israeli soldiers shortly before he opened fire on other emergency vehicles.

He said he could not see exactly what was going on when the soldiers opened fire. But his claims correspond to the claims of officials of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the United Nations, that is, emergency workers in the Red Cross, Red Crescent, the United Nations and Palestinian civil emergency departments are the targets of Israeli forces.

The Israeli military has investigated the incident, which happened when an unmarked vehicle approached Israeli location in the dark, without lights or special markings, and without previous coordination – it said that makes the vehicle’s advance appear suspicious.

The military said the soldiers who opened fire killed many Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who traveled in vehicles with the Palestinian Red Crescent Sign.

The Red Moon is described as the “lonely survivor” of the incident, and the fate of the missing caregiver remains unclear.

Abed said he and colleagues received a call around dawn after air strikes in the Al-Hashashesheen area of ​​Rafah to help the injured approach the border with Egypt.

“We moved out right away, and that was me and two other colleagues. Once we got there, we were caught in a fire and they detained us.” He told Reuters via phone from his house in Khan Younis, referring to Israeli soldiers shooting.

After Abed was detained, he said he could not see his two colleagues.

As he stood near the soldiers, he said he saw other emergency vehicles approaching the Israeli soldiers’ positions.

“I can see vehicles for civilian emergencies. The soldiers started shooting at the vehicles, and they fired heavily.” “That was too dark, I couldn’t see what happened to the people there, but they [the soldiers] Fired a lot. They wanted me to hide, they were shooting a lot. I felt like the bullet was hitting me. ”

On Saturday, Red Moon released a video obtained from the cell phone of a healthcare worker buried in the mass grave.

Shot from inside a moving vehicle, it appears to show a visible convoy of ambulances and a fire truck driven at dawn, with red lights flashing. After the vehicle they stopped was driving off the road, two rescuers and another man could be seen before hearing a burst of gunfire.

Reuters was able to verify the location of the video near the Tal Surdan area west of Rafa ruled the city of Rafa.

The Israeli military said in response to a request for comments about the video that the event was thoroughly inspected on March 23.

“All claims, including documents on the incident, will be thorough and in-depth checks to understand the order of the incident and the order in which the circumstances are handled,” it said.

“Blood on the vehicle”

It wasn’t until after dawn that Abed was still in the place where he was initially detained that he could have a clearer understanding of what was going on.

“With the first light of the day, the situation became clearer, and I saw the civil emergency and Red Crescent vehicles, all the doors were open and blood was on the vehicle,” he said.

Abed said he saw a bulldozer dig four holes in the sandy ground, then smashed the damaged vehicles and buried them.

“I knew nothing about the fate of my colleagues at that time,” he said.

Abed said he was detained by Israeli troops for about 15 hours, during which time he was questioned and beaten. He said he saw aid workers who were still missing and detained by Israeli soldiers.

“They asked me where I went on October 7, and they said Palestinians are terrorists and we are all terrorists. They also asked a lot of personal questions about me and my family,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to die.”

Eventually he said the soldiers had conducted some inspections on him before deciding to release him.

Nebal Farsakh, spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, confirmed that Abed worked for the organization as a volunteer and had a mission in Rafa that day.

“He is a lonely survivor, two colleagues with whom he was killed. There is another colleague who is still missing,” Falsah told Reuters.

“At that time he didn’t know if his colleagues were mar or injured and saved.”