The Palestinian Red Crescent Society told journalists on April 7 that an autopsy report on the 15 unarmed medics and first responders killed by Israeli forces last month in Gaza shows that they were shot in the upper body with “intent to kill.” Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Red Crescent in the West Bank, told journalists in Ramallah: “There has been an autopsy of the martyrs from the Red Crescent and civil defense teams. We cannot disclose everything we know, but I will say that all the martyrs were shot in the upper part of their bodies, with the intent to kill.”
He posed a question for the IDF attackers: “Why did you hide the bodies?” Further, Khatib dismissed the accusation that the ambulances were being used by Hamas operatives, saying that Israel had failed “to prove even once in 50 years that the Red Crescent or its crews carry or use weapons.” Of note, Israel labels any civilian working for the government in Gaza, such as a teacher, a policeman or a Red Crescent paramedic as a “Hamas operative.”
Also, Red Crescent published a longer, 19-minute video segment taken from the cell phone of Red Crescent paramedic Rifaat Radwan. (Previously, only a 7-minute version had been made public.) He is heard saying: “Forgive me mom, this is the path I chose—to help people—I swear I didn’t choose this path but to help people.” He repeated the “shahada,” which Muslims recite when facing death. His last words were: “The Israeli soldiers are coming, the Israeli soldiers are coming.”
