UN official calls for accountability over Israeli killings of paramedics
Jonathan Whittall, who heads the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Gaza, has responded to Israeli claims that there was “no evidence to support claims of execution” in the killings of Palestinian paramedics last month.
“Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all, eroding,” Whittall said in a statement.
“Too many civilians, including aid workers, have been killed in Gaza. Their stories have not all made the headlines.”
The vast majority of their stories have not made the headlines:
More than 400 aid workers and over 1,300 health workers have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023, despite the requirement under international humanitarian law for humanitarian workers to be protected.
Only some of those with dual citizenship and some foreign aid workers make the headlines...
‘Summary executions’: Gaza Civil Defence slams Israeli probe into medics’ killings
Gaza Civil Defence rejects the findings of an internal probe conducted by the Israeli army into the killing of 15 unarmed medics and rescue workers in March.
“The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation’s narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,” Mohammed Al-Mughair, a Civil Defence official, told the AFP.
His comments came a day after the Israeli army released its own investigation, admitting “professional failures” but denying its troops executed any of the dead.
Al-Mughair also accused Israel of seeking to “circumvent” its obligations under international law.
Israel gives ‘false pretext’ to justify its crimes: Gaza Civil Defence spokesman
The Israeli military “always provide[s] false pretext in an attempt to justify any of the crimes committed by them. This is a fully-fledged war crime”, said Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence, referring to Israel’s inquiry into a group of Palestinian aid workers killed by Israeli soldiers last month.
“That’s why the Israeli occupation forces falsely claimed that these were members of jihad, [the] Islamic Jihad resistance movement,” Basal told Al Jazeera, speaking from Gaza.
“Yet we, the Civil Defence, have established from day one that all our team members are pure civilians. They are not affiliated to any military action. We are operating in a government led by Hamas. However, none of us is a Hamas fighter or a militant,” he said.
Israel’s claims of poor visibility are also not justified, “as these were ambulance vehicles flaring [their] emergency red and blue lights [and] also blaring their sirens”, Basal said.
The slain crew members were also all “sporting the orange bibs, the orange vests that clearly indicate they were paramedics and civil defence members”.
