A Palestinian medic has described the harrowing moment he says he heard Israeli troops shoot his colleagues as they clung on to life.
Asaad al-Nasasra, 47 was one of the two first responders who survived an attack by Israeli soldiers on a convoy of emergency vehicles in March, in which 15 other workers were killed.
In an account relayed by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Mr Nasasra claimed some of the paramedics who survived the initial assault were shot dead as they called for help. The bodies of 15 medics and rescue workers who had been killed were later found buried in a mass grave by Red Crescent and UN officials.
Mr Nasasra was driving in an ambulance with Rifat Radwan, who filmed a seven minute video which was recovered on his phone after the attack. The video shows a fire engine and marked ambulances using their flashing emergency lights at night before the shooting began. This contradicted the Israeli military version, which denied the vehicles had their lights on.
“Al-Nasasra and Radwan were subjected to the heavy gunfire everyone heard in the recording and the very heavy gunfire which continued even after the recording ended as Israeli soldiers continued to shoot at them for a long time,” Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for PRCS, told The Guardian.
“Al-Nasasra took cover on the ground, at the back of the ambulance. He tried to hide and to protect himself as much as he could, digging himself into the ground. The body of Mohammed al-Heila, another aid worker killed, was above him.”
He says he heard Israeli troops approaching the vehicles after heavy gunfire, and shoot everyone who was still alive once they had gotten close, PCRS said.
The PCRS believes Mr Nasasra was initially not shot by Israeli troops because they thought he was dead already. After seeing he was alive, the medic pleaded for his life in Hebrew, explaining his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
“He told the soldiers: ‘Don’t shoot. I am Israeli.’” Ms Farsakh said. “And the soldier got a bit confused. Al-Nasasra’s mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel.” After he was spared, he was forced to strip and thrown into a ditch, PCRS added.
Mr Nasasra was held in Israeli detention for 37 days afterward, where he was beaten and tortured, the organisation claimed. He was released after intense international pressure after it emerged he was still alive, but has not yet spoken publicly.
During his detention, he was subjected to physical attack, he was isolated in a room with very loud music known as the “disco room”, Ms Farsakh said. “He described it as like something literally making you feel crazy and that the music was loud to the extent that you feel your nose is bleeding, your ears are bleeding.’’
The PCRS adds that the paramedic is haunted by the “sound of gunfire” and the “sight of his wounded colleagues”. He is also said to be suffering from survivor’s guilt after his fellow medics were killed.
An IDF spokesperson said: “The individual in question was detained based on intelligence indicating involvement in terrorist activity, and During his detention, he was questioned regarding this matter. Throughout his detention and questioning in Israel, he was held under a temporary custody order in accordance with the law.
“At the conclusion of the questioning, and based on the information gathered, it was decided not to issue a permanent detention order, and he was released back to the Gaza Strip in accordance with the law. The IDF operates in accordance with the law.”
In April, an Israeli military investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian U.N. vehicle, was a breach of orders.
“The examination found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting,” it added at the time.
