A video, found on the cellphone of a paramedic who was discovered together with 14 different assist employees in a mass grave in Gaza in late March, reveals that the ambulances and hearth truck that they had been touring in had been clearly marked and had their emergency sign lights on when Israeli troops hit them with a barrage of gunfire.
Officers from the Palestine Pink Crescent Society stated in a information convention on Friday on the United Nations moderated by the Worldwide Federation of Pink Cross and Pink Crescent Societies that that they had offered the almost seven-minute recording, which was obtained by The New York Instances, to the U.N. Safety Council.
An Israeli navy spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, stated earlier this week that Israeli forces didn’t “randomly assault” an ambulance, however that a number of autos “had been recognized advancing suspiciously” with out headlights or emergency indicators towards Israeli troops, prompting them to shoot. Colonel Shoshani stated earlier within the week that 9 of these killed had been Palestinian militants. Israel didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the video.
The Instances obtained the video from a senior diplomat on the United Nations who requested to not be recognized to have the ability to share delicate info.
The Instances verified the situation and timing of the video, which was taken within the southern metropolis of Rafah early on March 23. Filmed from what seems to be the entrance inside of a shifting automobile, it reveals a convoy of ambulances and a fireplace truck, clearly marked, with headlights and flashing lights turned on, driving south on a highway to the north of Rafah within the early morning. The primary rays of solar might be seen, and birds are chirping.
The convoy stops when it encounters a automobile that had veered onto the facet of the highway — one ambulance had been despatched earlier to assist wounded civilians and had come below assault. The brand new rescue autos detour to the facet of the highway.
Rescue employees, not less than two of whom might be seen sporting uniforms, are seen exiting a fireplace truck and an ambulance marked with the symbol of the Pink Crescent and approaching the ambulance derailed to the facet.
Then, sounds of intense gunfire escape.
A barrage of gunshots is seen and heard within the video hitting the convoy.
The digital camera shakes, the video goes darkish. However the audio continues for 5 minutes, and the rat-a-tat of gunfire doesn’t cease. A person says in Arabic that there are Israelis current.
The paramedic filming is heard on the video reciting, again and again, the “shahada,” or a Muslim declaration of religion, which individuals recite when dealing with dying. “There isn’t any God however God, Muhammad is his messenger,” the paramedic is heard saying. He asks God for forgiveness and says he is aware of he’s going to die.
“Forgive me, mom. That is the trail I selected — to assist folks,” he stated. “Allahu akbar,” God is nice, he says.
Within the backdrop, a commotion of voices from distraught assist employees and troopers shouting instructions in Hebrew might be heard. It’s not clear what they’re saying.
The Palestine Pink Crescent Society spokeswoman, Nebal Farsakh, stated in an interview from the West Financial institution metropolis of Ramallah that the paramedic who filmed the video was later discovered with a bullet in his head within the mass grave. His title has not been disclosed but as a result of he has relations residing in Gaza involved about Israeli retaliation, the U.N. diplomat stated.
On the information convention, held on the U.N. headquarters, the president of the Palestine Pink Crescent Society, Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, and his deputy, Marwan Jilani, instructed reporters that the proof the society has collected — together with the video and audio from the episode, and forensic examination of the our bodies — contradicted Israel’s model of occasions.
The deaths of the help employees, who went lacking on March 23, has drawn worldwide scrutiny and condemnation in current days. The U.N. and the Palestine Pink Crescent stated the help employees weren’t carrying weapons and posed no menace.
“Their our bodies have been focused from a really shut vary,” stated Dr. Khatib, including that Israel didn’t present info on the lacking medics’ whereabouts for days. “They knew precisely the place they had been as a result of they killed them,” he stated. “Their colleagues had been in agony, their households had been in agony. They saved us for eight days at midnight.”
It took 5 days after the rescue autos got here below assault and fell silent for the United Nations and Pink Crescent to barter with the Israeli navy for protected passage to seek for the lacking folks. On Sunday, rescue groups discovered 15 our bodies, most in a shallow mass grave together with their crushed ambulances and a automobile marked with the U.N. emblem.
The world the place the convoy stops within the video was captured in a satellite tv for pc picture a number of hours later and analyzed by The Instances. At that time, the 5 ambulances and the fireplace truck had been moved off the highway and clustered collectively.
Two days later, a brand new satellite tv for pc picture of the world confirmed the autos had been apparently buried. Subsequent to disturbed earth are three Israeli navy bulldozers and an excavator. Moreover, bulldozers erected earthen limitations on the highway in each instructions from the mass grave.
One member of the Palestinian Pink Crescent continues to be lacking, and Israel has not stated whether or not he’s detained or has been killed, Dr. Khatib stated.
Dr. Ahmad Dhair, a forensic physician who examined a number of the our bodies in Gaza’s Nasser hospital, stated 4 out of the 5 assist employees he examined had been killed by a number of gunshots, together with wounds to the top, torso and joints. One paramedic worker of the Pink Crescent within the convoy was detained after which launched by the Israeli navy and offered a witness account of Israeli navy taking pictures on the ambulances, the U.N. and Pink Crescent Society stated.
Dylan Winder, the consultant of the Worldwide Federation of Pink Cross and Pink Crescent Societies to the U.N., known as the incident an outrage and stated it represented the only deadliest assault on Pink Cross and Pink Crescent Society employees wherever on this planet since 2017.
Volker Türk, the U.N.’s Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, instructed the council that an unbiased investigation have to be carried out, and that the episode raises “additional considerations over the fee of battle crimes by the Israeli navy.”
Neil Collier, Sanjana Varghese and Ephrat Livni contributed reporting. Natalie Reneau contributed video modifying.
