Mobile phone footage from one of the 15 Palestinian medics killed by Israeli forces last month appears to contradict Israeli claims that the ambulances involved had no emergency signals active at the time of the attack.
The video, recovered from the pocket of a slain paramedic, shows emergency vehicles from the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defense approaching a previously attacked ambulance with flashing lights and visible medical markings. The teams were driving slowly and did not appear to pose any threat as three medics exited the vehicles. Moments later, gunfire erupted and continued for over five minutes. One medic can be heard praying in the background, saying, “Forgive me, mother. This is the path I chose, mother, to help people.”
The incident occurred before dawn on March 23 in Tel al-Sultan, a district of Rafah in southern Gaza. Eight Red Crescent workers, six Civil Defense staff, and a United Nations employee were killed in the shooting. Israeli forces allegedly bulldozed over the bodies and destroyed their vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. Rescue crews were unable to access the site until a week later.
The video was shared with the U.N. Security Council by the Palestinian ambassador and verified by a surviving paramedic, Munzer Abed, and U.N. visual evidence showing the same location. Abed, a 10-year Red Crescent veteran, described being shot at without warning despite the ambulance’s sirens being on. He said Israeli soldiers beat him, stripped him to his underwear, interrogated him, and threatened him with weapons before detaining him.
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Asked about the video, the Israeli military said the incident is “under thorough examination.” Initially, the military claimed the vehicles approached suspiciously without lights, but an Israeli official has since admitted that account was incorrect.
The Palestinian Red Crescent called for an independent investigation, expressing distrust in internal military probes. One medic, Assaad al-Nassasra, remains missing. Abed claims to have seen him blindfolded and taken by Israeli forces.
Israel later claimed it had killed a Hamas commander, Mohammed Amin Shobaki, and eight other militants at the site, but no bodies with those identities have been recovered. None of the 15 medics killed match the names provided by the Israeli side.
Jonathan Whittall, interim Gaza head for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), refuted Israeli allegations that the medics were militants. “These are paramedic crews that I personally have met before,” he said. “They were buried in their uniforms with their gloves on. They were ready to save lives.”
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The UN says over 150 emergency responders and more than 1,000 health workers have been killed in Gaza during the war, most while on duty. Israeli investigations into such incidents are rare.
Source: With input from agency