When the initial news of the executions of eight paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the disappearance of one more broke on Eid al-Fitr, I stared for a long time at the pictures of the men the Israel Defense Forces had killed. I have stared more every day since.
I knew some of these men.
I scan photos of my time in Gaza last year, looking for these men in my memories. I see them with patients, kneeling by the stretchers that acted as beds, dressing wounds, talking, reassuring. I see them loading patients into ambulances and driving off in the summer dust. I see them laughing, playing soccer on the tennis court.
Eight Palestinian paramedics, working under the auspices of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with the full protection of their emblem, were killed by the Israel Defense Forces, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and indeed of the most basic sense of being human. They were killed and buried alongside six first responders from Gaza’s civil defence unit and a United Nations employee. ….more
