At least 24 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid site, local health authorities say
©Reuters
At least 24 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, local health authorities said, in the latest bout of chaos and bloodshed to plague the aid operation.
The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah.
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Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Palestinian paramedic who survived Israeli attack that killed 15 says soldiers shot colleagues calling for help
©UK Independent Today at 21:30 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 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. Register for free to read this story Register and create a profile to get access to our free stories. You'll also unlock more free stories each week.
The Journal
15 hours ago
- The Journal
BBC defends its Gaza coverage after criticism from the White House
THE BBC HAS defended its reporting of an incident in which Palestinians were killed near a Gaza aid centre, after the White House accused the broadcaster of taking 'the word of Hamas'. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people on Sunday near the US-backed aid centre. The Israeli military, however, denied its troops had fired on civilians in or around the centre, and both it and the aid centre's administrator accused Hamas of sowing false rumours. Responding to a question about the incident, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday the BBC had to 'correct and take down' its story about the incident. 'The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth,' she said. 'We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines,' she said, citing stories that gave different death tolls. 'And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying 'We reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything',' she added. But the BBC said the White House claims were not accurate and that it had not removed its story. Advertisement 'The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism,' it said in a statement. It said headlines giving varying death tolls were 'totally normal' journalistic practice due to the story being 'updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources'. It said the death tolls were always 'clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of 'at least 21′', it added. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its field hospital in Rafah received 179 people, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival. Leavitt also criticised the Washington Post for its reporting of the incident. The Post deleted one article over sourcing issues 'because it and early versions of the article didn't meet Post fairness standards'. 'The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible.' The BBC has previously faced criticism of its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In February, it apologised and admitted 'serious flaws' over a documentary – 'Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone' – after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a senior Hamas figure.
Irish Examiner
17 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Palestinian Red Crescent details medic's account of 15 colleagues' slaughter in Gaza
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has detailed the harrowing account of one of its paramedics, who told the organisation he heard Israeli troops shoot first responders while they were still clinging to life. Asaad al-Nasasra, 47, was one of two first responders to survive the 15 March attack on a convoy of emergency vehicles in which 15 other medics and rescue workers were killed. He told the PRCS that after the attack in Gaza he was detained and tortured for 37 days by Israeli forces. The bodies of 15 paramedics and rescue workers were later found buried in a mass grave by Red Crescent and UN officials. Witnesses who uncovered the bodies said the workers were found still in their uniforms and some had their hands tied, although this has been disputed by the IDF. In the account he gave to colleagues, Nasasra said that some of the paramedics survived the initial assault and were calling for help when they were shot dead, the PRCS said. Mourners gather around the bodies of 8 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, on Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, file) Nasasra was driving one of two PRCS ambulances dispatched from Rafah after a convoy including other ambulances, a fire truck, health ministry vehicles and a UN car had been sent earlier to recover the bodies of two paramedics and other victims of an Israeli airstrike. 'Our colleague Al-Nasasra was in the same ambulance with his colleague Rifat Radwan, who filmed the video that was eventually recovered from his phone showing their vehicle being attacked by the Israeli soldiers,' said Nebal Farsakh, the PRCS spokesperson. The almost seven-minute video, released in April, shows a red fire engine and clearly marked ambulances driving at night, using headlights and flashing emergency lights, which contradicted the initial version of events put forward by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which denied that the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals 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,' says Farsakh. 'Al-Nasasra took cover on the ground, at the back of the ambulance,' she adds. '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.' Nasasra said Heila was severely injured and hugged him before dying, according to the account he gave to the PRCS team in Gaza in the presence of an international humanitarian law coordinator, as per the organisation's protocol. After the heavy gunfire, Nasasra heard Israeli soldiers approaching the vehicles, he said. The aid worker reported to the PRCS that some of the paramedics were still alive and injured but yelling for help. 'Al-Nasasra said the soldiers came to the scene very close – and then he heard them shooting everyone who was still alive,' Farsakh said. PRCS said they believed Israeli troops did not shoot Nasasra as they believed him to be dead. But when they realised he was still alive, a soldier pointed a rifle at his head. Speaking in Hebrew, Nasasra pleaded for his life, telling them his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. 'He told the soldiers: 'Don't shoot. I am Israeli.'' PRCS said. 'And the soldier got a bit confused. Al-Nasasra's mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel.' The soldiers decided to spare him, Farsakh said. He was eventually forced to strip and thrown into a ditch. PRCS says the paramedic believed he was about to be killed. Though blindfolded, he caught a glimpse through the cloth of the convoy's wrecked vehicles – but not the bodies. One other paramedic, who also survived the massacre and was released a few hours later, said he saw Nasasra being detained by Israeli soldiers. Nasasra's whereabouts were unknown for more than two weeks until he was finally released on 29 April. He has not yet publicly spoken about his ordeal and, according to colleagues, remains traumatised. The PRCS said that for 37 days, Nasasra was beaten, humiliated and tortured in Israeli custody. 'He was mistreated, he was subjected to physical attack, tied, beaten, also psychological [torture] and starved, Farsakh said. ''He was also being isolated for three days and put in a room with very loud music, which the Israelis called the disco room. 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.'' Paramedics and demonstrators carry symbolic stretchers and posters with names and pictures of relief workers who lost their lives in the line of humanitarian duty. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) Nasasra was released on 29 April, after mounting international pressure following the news that he was still alive and in detention. Reached by the Guardian, the IDF said: 'The individual was detained based on intelligence indicating involvement in terrorist activity, and during his detention he was questioned regarding this matter.' '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,' it added. 'The IDF operates in accordance with the law.' The PRCS says the paramedic is still haunted 'by the sound of gunfire, the sight of his wounded colleagues, and their brutal killings', and cites how Nasasra carries the guilt of surviving while his fellow medics were slaughtered. Eight paramedics, six Gaza civil defence workers and one UN employee were killed in the attack. The IDF initially denied the allegations. However, in an inquiry into the incident, the Israel Defense Forces found a series of failings, including an 'operational misunderstanding' and a 'breach of orders'. The deputy commander of the unit involved has been dismissed 'for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief'. An aid worker working for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, was killed alongside the PRCS medics. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of Unrwa, described the incident as a 'summary execution'. 'Kamal's [the Unrwa aid worker] body was discovered near a mass grave, alongside the human remains of the PRCS humanitarian workers killed by the Israeli forces,' Lazzarini said in a statement. 'He was killed through one or multiple blows to the back of his skull. 'Despite several requests from Unrwa to the government of Israel, no response was directly received on Kamal's death. 'Impunity opens the door to more atrocities,' he added. The Unrwa spokesperson Juliette Touma said: 'Our forensic analysis refutes that Israeli story that Kamal was shot and that's why he was killed. He was not shot. His car was shot at, but the reason why he was killed is due to heavy (one or several) hits at the back of his skull with a heavy object.' 'It could be the back of someone's gun or any other heavy object,' Touma said. Read More Gaza aid points close as Israel warns against travel to distribution centres
