Video exhibits Gaza rescue crews underneath Israeli hearth, medics say : NPR

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By Calvin S. Nelson


Mourners gather around the bodies of eight Red Crescent emergency responders, recovered in Rafah a week after an Israeli attack, as they are transported for burial from a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, March 31. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners collect across the our bodies of eight Purple Crescent emergency responders, recovered in Rafah every week after an Israeli assault, as they’re transported for burial from a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, March 31.

Abdel Kareem Hana/AP


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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

TEL AVIV, Israel — Palestinian medical officers say they obtained video footage that refutes Israel’s claims concerning the killing of 15 rescue and assist employees within the southern Gaza Strip final month.

Israel’s navy initially mentioned “a number of autos have been recognized advancing suspiciously towards [Israeli] troops with out headlights, or emergency indicators” on March 23, and the troopers opened hearth.

However the Palestine Purple Crescent Society launched a video Saturday it mentioned was present in a cellphone with one of many killed paramedics. It exhibits clearly marked rescue autos with headlights on and crimson emergency lights flashing. The video was filmed inside one of many autos within the convoy.

Within the video, there’s heavy gunfire over the course of a number of minutes, and a person’s voice says in Arabic, “Mother, forgive me. That is the trail I selected, to assist folks.”

An Israeli navy official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate an ongoing investigation, informed reporters that senior navy officers have been finishing an inquiry Saturday and would current their findings to the navy’s chief of employees Sunday.

He denied allegations that troopers had shot medics at shut vary or that medics’ arms had been cuffed, and mentioned troopers had coated the our bodies in a web and buried them underneath sand to keep away from wild animals from disturbing the our bodies.

“All claims, together with the documentation circulating concerning the incident, shall be completely and deeply examined to know the sequence of occasions and the dealing with of the state of affairs,” the navy mentioned Saturday.

After the incident, the crew was lacking for greater than every week. Rescue groups lastly found the our bodies of 14 Palestinian emergency responders and a United Nations staffer underneath a mound of sand on March 31.

“One after the other they have been hit, they have been struck. Their our bodies have been gathered and buried on this mass grave,” Jonathan Whittall, an official with the U.N. Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, mentioned in a video on the website the place the our bodies have been discovered. “They have been right here to avoid wasting lives. As a substitute, they ended up in a mass grave. … It is an absolute horror what occurred right here.”

The U.N. says 408 assist employees have been killed in additional than 17 months of conflict in Gaza.

Israel is increasing its navy offensive in Gaza after breaking a ceasefire within the conflict that adopted the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel. Israel says it is preventing to strain the Palestinian militant group to launch hostages and defeat Hamas.

Shir David contributed to this report from Tel Aviv.

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