A Palestinian paramedic who survived a deadly Israeli attack on health workers in southern Gaza has been released after three weeks in detention, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Assad al-Nassasra was one of 10 Palestinian detainees freed Tuesday at an Israeli border crossing with Gaza.
Al-Nassasra had gone missing following the March 23 incident in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan area, where 15 emergency personnel — including eight PRCS paramedics, six Civil Defence first responders, and one UN worker — were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a convoy of ambulances, a fire engine, and a UN vehicle responding to an emergency call.
The International Committee of the Red Cross later confirmed that al-Nassasra was in Israeli custody. The Israeli military acknowledged his detention during a briefing on its internal investigation into the attack, which it said involved “several professional failures.”
The military initially claimed its troops mistook the convoy for “suspicious vehicles” moving without headlights. However, video footage retrieved from the mobile phone of paramedic Rifaat Radwan — who was killed in the same ambulance as al-Nassasra — contradicted that account. The video shows the convoy using emergency lights and pulling over before gunfire erupted. The attack continued for over five minutes, ending with the audible approach of Israeli troops.
A week later, the victims’ bodies were discovered in shallow graves next to the destroyed vehicles.
The military’s inquiry concluded the killings resulted from an “operational misunderstanding” by a reconnaissance unit that “believed they faced a tangible threat.” It also admitted to a “breach of orders” in the separate killing of the UN employee. The deputy commander of the battalion involved was dismissed for providing an “incomplete and inaccurate report.”
The PRCS rejected the inquiry’s findings, labeling them a “systemic distortion of the truth” and accusing Israel of justifying the targeting of protected medical personnel by alleging ties to Hamas.
“This is a war crime,” said a PRCS spokesperson. “The deliberate targeting of emergency teams carrying the Geneva Conventions’ protected emblems is an egregious violation of international law.”
A senior UN humanitarian official in Gaza echoed the concerns, warning that the absence of meaningful accountability “undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place.”