Jerusalem, Apr 5 (EFE).— A video released on Saturday contradicts Israel’s claim that ambulances targeted in a deadly airstrike in Gaza were driving without lights or behaving suspiciously.
The clip published by The New York Times showed that the vehicles were clearly marked and had their emergency lights on.
The video has cast doubt on Israel’s justification for the airstrike that killed 15 paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza last month.
The footage, shared with the newspaper by an anonymous UN diplomat, shows ambulances with flashing emergency lights and clearly marked fire and rescue vehicles.
Rescuers are seen wearing reflective uniforms. The video, verified by The Times, was filmed during the early hours of Mar 23 in Rafah, southern Gaza, coinciding with the reported time and location of the attack.
Israel has maintained that the vehicles were transporting “terrorists” and claims to have killed nine suspected militants, but has so far named only one person, whose identity does not match any of the victims listed by the Palestinian Red Crescent or the Civil Defense.
At a UN press conference in New York on Friday, Palestinian Red Crescent President Younis al Khatib recounted a video message recorded by one of the slain paramedics. “Forgive me, Mom, I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives,” the young man says.
The New York Times footage includes similar final words from the paramedic who filmed the attack. “Forgive me, mom, this is the path I have chosen: to help people.”
Gunfire is heard for five minutes, after which the screen fades to black. The man pleads for Allah’s forgiveness, saying he knows he is going to die.
The strike came after Israel ordered a mass evacuation of Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, which was bombed shortly thereafter.
The Red Crescent deployed two ambulances to rescue the wounded, but after contact with one unit was lost, additional teams were sent, only to be targeted themselves, according to the UN.
Emergency crews were unable to access the area for four days. When they finally reached the site, they recovered the body of a Civil Defense worker. A subsequent search uncovered 14 more bodies buried in a mass grave.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military acknowledged covering the bodies with cloth and dirt, saying it did so believing a rescue would be delayed.
However, Gaza’s Civil Defense reported that some bodies had their hands tied and showed gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
In response to the Times report, Gaza’s Hamas-led government accused Israel of committing a “premeditated and deliberate war crime” that showed “complete indifference to the blood of medical and humanitarian personnel.”
A statement released by Gaza’s media office called for an international investigation, a visit to the site of the mass grave, and prosecution of those responsible before the International Criminal Court. EFE
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