A video recovered from the cell phone of a Palestinian medic killed together with 14 of his colleagues in Gaza final month contradicts Israeli claims.
The video – discovered on the cellphone of deceased Rifat Radwan and launched on Saturday by the Palestine Pink Crescent Society (PRCS) – exhibits their closing moments because the Palestinian medics, sporting extremely reflective uniforms and inside a clearly identifiable PRCS ambulance, are shot at by Israeli forces in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood in southern Gaza on March 23.
The Israeli navy had stated its troopers “didn’t randomly assault” any ambulances, insisting they fired on “terrorists” approaching them in “suspicious automobiles”. It stated, “a number of uncoordinated automobiles had been recognized advancing suspiciously towards [Israeli army] troops with out headlights or emergency indicators”.
PRCS misplaced eight of its staff within the assault. Six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence company and an worker of the United Nations company for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, had been additionally killed that day.
Their our bodies had been discovered buried close to Rafah in what the UN Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described as a mass grave.
What does the video present?
The video, apparently filmed from inside a shifting automobile, captures a pink firetruck and ambulances driving by means of the night time.
The automobiles cease beside each other on the roadside, and two uniformed males exit. Moments later, intense gunfire erupts.
Within the video, the voices of two medics are heard – one saying, “The automobile, the automobile,” and one other responding: “It appears to be an accident.”
Seconds later, a volley of gunfire breaks out, and the display goes black.
The medic recording the scene can later be heard reciting the Islamic declaration of religion, the Shahada, which Muslims historically say within the face of demise. “There isn’t any God however God, Muhammad is his messenger,” he says repeatedly, his voice trembling with concern as intense gunfire continues within the background.
He’s additionally heard saying: “Forgive me mom as a result of I selected this manner, the best way of serving to individuals.” He then says: “Settle for my martyrdom, God, and forgive me.”
Simply earlier than the video ends, he’s heard saying: “The Jews are coming, the Jews are coming,” apparently referring to Israeli troopers.
PRCS stated the convoy was dispatched in response to emergency calls from civilians trapped following an Israeli bombardment in Rafah.
In keeping with Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal, a number of members of their workforce had been discovered with their fingers and ft certain and visual bullet wounds on their heads and torsos, suggesting they had been executed at shut vary after being recognized for his or her humanitarian work. One of many civil defence personnel had been decapitated, and the remaining our bodies had been present in items, he stated.
Jonathan Whittall, the pinnacle of OCHA within the Palestinian territory, stated the our bodies of the humanitarian staff had been “of their uniforms, nonetheless sporting gloves” once they had been discovered.
An Israeli navy official stated the our bodies had been lined “in sand and fabric” to keep away from injury till coordination with worldwide organisations might be organized for his or her retrieval. The navy added that it was investigating the assault.
‘No parallel in fashionable historical past’
Israel “have to be held accountable for its crimes, the likes of which haven’t any parallel in fashionable historical past,” a spokesperson for Gaza civil defence informed Al Jazeera on Saturday.
“We demand the formation of a world investigation committee into the occupation’s focusing on of paramedics in Rafah,” the spokesperson stated, including that Palestinian rescue staff will proceed “to carry out their duties regardless of the occupation’s deliberate focusing on of them”.
In an announcement on Saturday, Gaza’s Authorities Media Workplace stated the Israeli navy carried out a “brutal and unprecedented” execution of medical and civil defence groups, calling it “one other crime added to the occupation’s black file”.
It stated the video “fully disproves the Israeli occupation’s false and deceptive narrative” that the automobiles approached “suspiciously” with out clear indicators.
Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday stated the “irrefutable visible proof shatters the occupation’s fabricated ‘suspicious motion’ lies, proving systematic focusing on of humanitarian personnel and constituting a premeditated homicide beneath worldwide regulation”.
“We demand worldwide justice for the victims of this heinous crime,” it stated.
The UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, additionally condemned the assault, elevating issues over doable “warfare crimes” by the Israeli navy.
“I’m appalled by the latest killings of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian assist staff, which increase additional issues over the fee of warfare crimes by the Israeli navy,” Volker Turk informed the UN Safety Council on Thursday, calling for an “impartial, immediate and thorough investigation”.
In keeping with UNRWA, no less than 408 assist staff, together with greater than 280 UNRWA workers, have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza because the warfare started on October 7, 2023. Since then, greater than 50,000 Palestinians, most of them kids and ladies, have been killed within the enclave.
