A Palestinian paramedic who was current at an incident wherein 15 of his colleagues have been killed in southern Gaza final month mentioned he witnessed Israeli troops firing at emergency autos that he later noticed stained with blood.
After a number of days of uncertainty in regards to the whereabouts of the paramedics, Crimson Crescent and United Nations officers discovered the our bodies of the 15 emergency and support staff buried in a mass grave in southern Gaza, accusing Israeli forces of killing them. One other employee remains to be lacking.
Munther Abed, a volunteer for the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society, mentioned he was responding to a name with two colleagues close to Rafah, within the southern Gaza Strip, on March 23 when he was detained by Israeli troopers shortly earlier than they opened fireplace on different emergency autos.
He mentioned he had not been in a position to see precisely what occurred when the troopers opened fireplace. However his account corresponds with assertions by officers from the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society and the UN that the emergency staff from the Crimson Cross, Crimson Crescent, UN and Palestinian Civil Emergency service have been focused by Israeli troops.
The Israeli army has opened an investigation into the incident, which by its account occurred when unmarked autos approached an Israeli place in the dead of night with out lights or particular markings and with out earlier co-ordination — elements it mentioned had made the autos’ advance seem suspicious.
The army mentioned the troopers who opened fireplace had killed a variety of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who have been travelling in autos marked with Palestine Crimson Crescent Society indicators.
The Crimson Crescent describes Abed as “the lone survivor” of the incident, with the destiny of the lacking paramedic nonetheless unclear.
Abed mentioned he and colleagues had acquired a name to exit to assist wounded folks at round daybreak following an airstrike within the Al-Hashasheen space in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
“We moved straight away, it was me and two different colleagues. As quickly as we arrived there, we got here beneath fireplace they usually detained us,” he instructed Reuters by telephone from his home in Khan Younis, referring to taking pictures by Israeli troopers.
After Abed was detained, he mentioned he overlooked his two colleagues.
As he was standing close to the troopers, he mentioned he noticed different emergency autos approaching the Israeli troopers’ place.
“I may see the automobile of the Civil Emergency. The troopers started taking pictures on the autos, they fired closely,” he mentioned. “It was darkish and I could not see what occurred to the folks there, however they [the soldiers] fired closely. They requested me to duck down they usually have been firing closely. I felt as if the bullets have been hitting me personally.”
On Saturday, the Crimson Crescent issued a video obtained from the cellphone of a paramedic discovered buried within the mass grave.
Filmed from inside a transferring automobile, it seems to indicate a clearly marked convoy of ambulances and a hearth truck driving at daybreak with their pink lights flashing. After they cease by a automobile that had veered off the highway, two rescue staff and one other man will be seen earlier than a volley of gunshots is heard.
Reuters was in a position to confirm the placement of the video close to the Tal al-Sultan space, west of Rafah metropolis in Rafah governate.
The Israeli army mentioned in response to a request for remark in regards to the video that the occasion on March 23 was beneath thorough examination.
“All claims, together with the documentation circulating in regards to the incident, might be completely and deeply examined to grasp the sequence of occasions and the dealing with of the state of affairs,” it mentioned.
‘Blood on the autos’
It was solely after dawn that Abed, who remained held on the location the place he was initially detained, was in a position to get a clearer image of what had occurred.
“With the primary gentle of the day, issues develop into clearer, I noticed the autos of the Civil Emergency and the Crimson Crescent, the doorways of all of the autos have been open and there was blood on the autos,” he mentioned.
Abed mentioned he noticed a bulldozer dig 4 holes within the sandy floor earlier than crushing the wrecked autos and burying them.
“At the moment I had no clue in regards to the destiny of my colleagues,” he mentioned.
Abed mentioned he was held in detention by Israeli forces for about 15 hours, throughout which period he was interrogated and overwhelmed. He mentioned he noticed the help employee who remains to be lacking, detained by Israeli troopers.
“They requested me the place I had been on Oct. 7, they have been saying Palestinians are terrorists, and that we’re all terrorists. They requested many private questions, too, about me and my household,” he mentioned. “I felt I used to be about to die.”
Ultimately he mentioned the troopers made some checks on him earlier than they determined to launch him.
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society, confirmed that Abed was working for the group as a volunteer and was in Rafah that day with the mission.
“He’s the lone survivor, the 2 colleagues who have been with him have been killed. There’s one other colleague who remains to be lacking,” Farsakh instructed Reuters.
“He had no clue at that second whether or not his colleagues have been martyred or have been wounded and saved.”
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