Egypt Daily News – He was martyred after documenting the crime, with a voice repeating the shahada and asking for forgiveness, and a camera shaking before the screen fades to black, followed by the sound of a hail of bullets, a video recorded by a paramedic refutes the Israeli occupation’s claims regarding the assassination of a group of aid workers in Gaza. This video adds to the growing body of evidence of genocide and war crimes committed by the occupation forces daily against Palestinians, with U.S. complicity and support.
A new lie from the Israeli army debunked by photographic evidence
The American newspaper “The New York Times” published a report debunking Israeli claims to evade responsibility for the assassination of aid workers in Gaza. The report explained that while the United Nations accused Israel of killing them, Israel claimed that the vehicles the workers were using were “moving suspiciously” without any lights or emergency sirens.
A video, discovered on the mobile phone of a paramedic found alongside 14 other aid workers in a mass grave in the Palestinian city of Rafah at the end of March, and obtained by “The New York Times,” shows that the ambulances and fire truck they were traveling in had clear markings, and their sirens were on when they were targeted by the occupation forces with a hail of bullets.
During a press conference on Friday at the United Nations, organized by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, officials from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that they had submitted the seven-minute video to the United Nations Security Council.
Earlier, Israeli military spokesperson Nadef Shoshani claimed that the Israeli forces did not “randomly attack” the ambulance but instead identified several vehicles “moving suspiciously” towards Israeli forces without emergency lights or sirens, which led them to open fire.
The spokesperson also previously claimed that “nine of those killed were members of the Palestinian resistance.” Israel did not immediately respond to “The New York Times” requests for comment on the video.
“The New York Times” obtained the video from a senior diplomat at the United Nations, who requested anonymity in order to share the sensitive information.
“The New York Times” verified the location and timing of the video, which appears to have been filmed from the front of moving vehicles, showing a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck. The vehicles were clearly marked with emergency lights and sirens, moving southward on the road towards northern Rafah in the early morning hours.
The video shows the convoy of vehicles stopping when they encountered a vehicle parked on the side of the road — an ambulance previously sent to assist injured civilians, which had been attacked. The new rescue vehicles also pulled over to the side of the road.
Rescue workers, at least two of whom were wearing official uniforms, can be seen exiting the fire truck and the Red Crescent ambulance, approaching the parked ambulance on the side of the road. Then, the sound of gunfire is heard. The video captures a hail of bullets targeting the convoy of vehicles.
As the camera began to shake and the screen darkened, the audio recording continued for five minutes, documenting the ongoing hail of gunfire without interruption. A man speaking in Arabic can be heard saying that Israelis are present at the scene.
The paramedic filming the scene can be heard repeating the shahada: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,” before adding: “Forgive me, Mom. This is the path I chose — to help people. Allahu Akbar.”
The spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, Nibal Farsakh, stated during an interview from Ramallah in the West Bank that the paramedic who filmed the video was later found in the mass grave, with a wound indicating he had been shot in the head.
The UN diplomat revealed that the paramedic’s name has not been disclosed yet, as he has relatives living in Gaza and they fear Israeli retaliation.
Palestinian Red Crescent Society President Dr. Younis Al-Khatib and his deputy Marwan Jilani explained during a press conference at the UN headquarters that the evidence they had collected — including the video footage, incident recordings, and forensic examinations of the bodies — contradicted the narrative put forth by the Israeli occupation.
The assassination of the aid workers, whose disappearance was first reported on March 23, has garnered international scrutiny and condemnation in recent days. The UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent have stated that the aid workers were unarmed and posed no threat.
Al-Khatib emphasized that the workers had been targeted from a very close range, confirming that Israel had not provided any information about the whereabouts of the missing paramedics for several days.
He added, “They knew exactly where they were because they assassinated them. Their colleagues were suffering, and their families were in distress. They hid the matter from us for eight days.”
It took five days after the rescue vehicles were targeted for the UN and the Red Crescent to negotiate with the occupation forces to secure a safe passage to search for the missing workers.
On Sunday, rescue teams found 15 bodies, most of them in a mass grave along with the destroyed ambulances and a vehicle bearing the UN logo.
Satellite Images Reveal Vehicle Locations
A satellite image was captured of the area where the convoy had stopped just hours later, which was analyzed by “The New York Times.” At that point, the fire truck and the damaged ambulances had been moved off the road and gathered together.
Two days later, a new satellite image showed the vehicles seemingly buried. Nearby, there were three Israeli military bulldozers and an excavator. Additionally, the bulldozers had created earthen barriers on the road in both directions from the mass grave.
Al-Khatib stated that one Palestinian Red Crescent member is still missing, and Israel has not disclosed whether he is detained or assassinated.
Dr. Ahmed Dahir, a forensic doctor who examined the bodies at Nasser Hospital, explained that four of the five aid workers whose bodies he examined were assassinated with multiple gunshot wounds, including injuries to the head, torso, chest, and joints.
