Latest news with #YounisAlKhatib
News24
23-05-2025
- Politics
- News24
‘Don't shoot. I am Israeli': Paramedic survives shooting by speaking Hebrew as 15 others killed
Paramedic Assad Al-Nassasrah survived because he spoke Hebrew to Israeli soldiers. He was one of two survivors while 15 others were killed on 23 March. A deputy commander would be dismissed, said the Israeli military. The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that a paramedic who survived an attack that killed 15 aid workers was spared because he asked Israeli soldiers for mercy in Hebrew, adding that he hoped the man's testimony would help win justice. Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic, survived shootings that killed 15 emergency and aid workers on 23 March in southern Gaza in an incident that drew international condemnation. Their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave a week later by Red Crescent and UN officials who accused Israeli forces of killing them. Al-Nassasrah went missing and then was freed from Israeli detention on 29 April and has not yet publicly commented. One other paramedic survived. Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters in Geneva that Al-Nassasrah was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. 'What does Assad say in Hebrew? 'Don't shoot. I am Israeli.' And the soldier got a bit confused,' he told reporters. 'That confusion ... made him survive.' 'Assad will be a witness that can put all the Israeli stories in shambles,' he added. Israel's prime minister's office and its diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military initially said its soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position 'suspiciously' in the dark without lights or markings. It said they killed six militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were travelling in Red Crescent vehicles. Zain Jaafar/AFP But video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the PRCS showed emergency workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers. On 20 April, the Israeli military said a review into the incident had found there had been 'several professional failures'. It said a deputy commander, a reservist who was the field commander, would be dismissed. READ | 'Supporters of Netanyahu are panicking' amid signs Trump support is cooling The military advocate general is conducting its own investigation and criminal charges could be pursued, according to the military. Asked how Al-Nassasrah was treated in custody, Al-Khatib said: 'like a Palestinian'. He said Al-Nassasrah had been interrogated and that he had mental health issues, but did not elaborate further. Menahem Kahana/AFP Social media footage shared by the Palestinian Red Crescent dated the day after his release showed Al-Nassasrah crying as he hugged medics and looking dazed while being examined in a Gaza hospital. Eight of those killed were from the PRCS, which provides medical aid in Gaza and is part of the world's largest humanitarian network. Al-Khatib said the organisation was working with lawyers and considering formal submissions to international courts and to the UN Security Council. 'We think the international community is responsible to provide justice to those killed,' he said. 'We don't train our people to go and die.'
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Israel-Gaza war live: Children and elderly dying from starvation, minister warns, as 16 people killed in overnight strikes
Update: Date: Title: Children and elderly dying from starvation, minister says, as trickle of aid allowed into Gaza after Israeli blockade Content: We are continuing our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel's war on Gaza. UN teams have reportedly collected over 90 lorry loads of aid inside Gaza, containing flour, baby food and medical equipment. Some bakeries started making bread with the flour on Thursday. Other aid has started reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas, but the level is totally inadequate for the needs of Gaza's 2.1 million population. Charities have warned that much of the population have been brought to the brink of famine due to the effects of the total Israeli blockade on aid, imposed in early March, which was only eased earlier this week amid mounting international pressure. The blockade, which Israel says was to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages, is widely seen as the collective punishment of the civilian population and a breach of international law. Palestinian Red Crescent President Younis Al-Khatib said yesterday that many trucks were still at the border at the Karem Shalom crossing. About 500 lorries entered Gaza on average every day before the war, and there continues to be significant shortages of basic foods and inflated prices, with medics warning that malnutrition is spreading across the territory. Palestinian Authority health minister Majed Abu Ramadan said yesterday that 29 children and elderly people had died from 'starvation-related' causes in the last couple of days. Asked to react to comments made by the UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, on Tuesday that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: 'The number 14,000 is very realistic may be even underestimating (the scale)'. Gaza's civil defence agency, meanwhile, said Israeli airstrikes have killed 16 people across the territory since midnight, as the Israeli military's renewed assault continues despite western allies' denouncements. Update: Date: 2025-05-23T07:05:47.000Z Title: Cindy McCain Content: , the executive director of the UN's World Food Programme, has expressed a cautious sense of 'hope' as she confirmed that a 'handful' of bakeries are back in operation after the Israeli aid blockade on Gaza was eased to a bare minimum level. 'We need more wheat flour, more fuel, more safe access—so more ovens can fire back up to feed families desperately in need,' McCain wrote in a post on X. This is what hope looks like in Gaza.A handful of @WFP-supported bakeries are back in we need more wheat flour, more fuel, more safe access—so more ovens can fire back up to feed families desperately in need. Update: Date: 2025-05-23T07:00:15.000Z Title: Children and elderly dying from starvation, minister says, as trickle of aid allowed into Gaza after Israeli blockade Content: We are continuing our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel's war on Gaza. UN teams have reportedly collected over 90 lorry loads of aid inside Gaza, containing flour, baby food and medical equipment. Some bakeries started making bread with the flour on Thursday. Other aid has started reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas, but the level is totally inadequate for the needs of Gaza's 2.1 million population. Charities have warned that much of the population have been brought to the brink of famine due to the effects of the total Israeli blockade on aid, imposed in early March, which was only eased earlier this week amid mounting international pressure. The blockade, which Israel says was to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages, is widely seen as the collective punishment of the civilian population and a breach of international law. Palestinian Red Crescent President Younis Al-Khatib said yesterday that many trucks were still at the border at the Karem Shalom crossing. About 500 lorries entered Gaza on average every day before the war, and there continues to be significant shortages of basic foods and inflated prices, with medics warning that malnutrition is spreading across the territory. Palestinian Authority health minister Majed Abu Ramadan said yesterday that 29 children and elderly people had died from 'starvation-related' causes in the last couple of days. Asked to react to comments made by the UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, on Tuesday that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: 'The number 14,000 is very realistic may be even underestimating (the scale)'. Gaza's civil defence agency, meanwhile, said Israeli airstrikes have killed 16 people across the territory since midnight, as the Israeli military's renewed assault continues despite western allies' denouncements.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Medic survived Gaza shootings by pleading in Hebrew, Palestinian Red Crescent says
GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that a paramedic who survived an attack that killed 15 aid workers was spared because he asked Israeli soldiers for mercy in Hebrew, adding that he hoped the man's testimony would help win justice. Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic, survived shootings that killed 15 emergency and aid workers on March 23 in southern Gaza in an incident that drew international condemnation. Their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave a week later by Red Crescent and U.N. officials who accused Israeli forces of killing them. Al-Nassasrah went missing and then was freed from Israeli detention on April 29 and has not yet publicly commented. One other paramedic survived. Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters in Geneva that Al-Nassasrah was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. "What does Assad say in Hebrew? 'Don't shoot. I am Israeli.' And the soldier got a bit confused," he told reporters. "That confusion ... made him survive." "Assad will be a witness that can put all the Israeli stories in shambles," he added. Israel's prime minister's office and its diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military initially said its soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position "suspiciously" in the dark without lights or markings. It said they killed six militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were travelling in Red Crescent vehicles. But video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the PRCS showed emergency workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers. On April 20, the Israeli military said a review into the incident had found there had been "several professional failures". It said a deputy commander, a reservist who was the field commander, would be dismissed. The military advocate general is conducting its own investigation and criminal charges could be pursued, according to the military. Asked how Al-Nassasrah was treated in custody, Al-Khatib said: "like a Palestinian". He said Al-Nassasrah had been interrogated and that he had mental health issues, but did not elaborate further. Social media footage shared by the Palestinian Red Crescent dated the day after his release showed Al-Nassasrah crying as he hugged medics and looking dazed while being examined in a Gaza hospital. Eight of those killed were from the PRCS, which provides medical aid in Gaza and is part of the world's largest humanitarian network. Al-Khatib said the organisation was working with lawyers and considering formal submissions to international courts and to the U.N. Security Council. "We think the international community is responsible to provide justice to those killed," he said. "We don't train our people to go and die."
Arab News
22-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Gaza ambulance fleet down to a third, Palestinian Red Crescent says
GENEVA: The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages. Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza. Asked how long his organization could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: 'It's a matter of time. It could be days. 'We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one third,' he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations. The PRCS is part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Al-Khatib criticized the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza so far, warning of the risk of mob attacks. 'I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving,' he said. Israel, at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023, has repeatedly defended its controls on aid in the enclave, saying there is enough food there and denying accusations of causing starvation. He added his voice to criticism of a US-backed organization that aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May overseeing a new model of aid distribution. 'It's not up for discussion. No, no, no,' he said. 'The world should not give up on the system as we know it.' The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation intends to work with private US security and logistics firms to provide aid to 300,000 people from distribution hubs in Gaza's south. Gaza's total population is 2.3 million, most of it displaced.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Gaza ambulance fleet down to a third, Palestinian Red Crescent says
GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages. Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza. Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: "It's a matter of time. It could be days. "We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one third," he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations. The PRCS is part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Al-Khatib criticised the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza so far, warning of the risk of mob attacks. "I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving," he said. Israel, at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023, has repeatedly defended its controls on aid in the enclave, saying there is enough food there and denying accusations of causing starvation. He added his voice to criticism of a U.S.-backed organisation that aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May overseeing a new model of aid distribution. "It's not up for discussion. No, no, no," he said. "The world should not give up on the system as we know it." The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation intends to work with private U.S. security and logistics firms to provide aid to 300,000 people from distribution hubs in Gaza's south. Gaza's total population is 2.3 million, most of it displaced.
