B’tselem: Israeli Army Distributing Misleading Video after Killing Palestinian Paramedic

Volunteer paramedic Sajed Abed al-Hakim Mizher, 18, was shot and killed by Israeli forces near Bethlehem. (Photo: via Social Media)

Israeli forces shot and killed a volunteer paramedic during a refugee camp raid, after which the army distributed a misleading propaganda video.

According to the investigation by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Sajed Mizher – aged just 17 – was shot in the abdomen while rushing to the aid of a wounded resident.

On March 27, at around 2.30 am, soldiers raided Dheisheh refugee camp located south of Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank. Soldiers arrested a resident, then withdrew.

A few hours later, dozens of Israeli soldiers raided the camp again and were confronted by local residents who threw stones at the occupation forces.

B’Tselem noted:

“During this raid, three residents were injured by live fire – one in the shoulder, another in the hand, and a third in the leg. A team of paramedics and volunteers from the camp affiliated with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) was present during both raids.”

As Israeli soldiers were withdrawing, “one of them shot M.J., 20, a resident of the camp, injuring him in the leg”.

Sajed Mizher, “who was wearing a medical crew vest and standing a few dozen meters behind the injured man”, ran to the injured man’s aid.

At that point, an Israeli soldier shot Sajed in the abdomen. Rushed to the hospital, Sajed succumbed to his wounds roughly an hour after arrival.

Later that day, the Israeli military spokesperson published video footage in Arabic “showing a paramedic taking off his identifying vest and throwing stones from a rooftop while wearing a white shirt”.

As B’Tselem noted, “the footage was presumably intended to justify the shooting of Muzhar.”

However,

“B’Tselem’s investigation clearly found that the person captured on film was not Sajed Muzhar, who was shot at a different location, on the main road of the refugee camp.”

“Therefore,” the NGO added, “even for purposes of public relations, the footage the military published is of dubious value at best. It certainly does not constitute an explanation or justification for fatally shooting a 17-year-old volunteer medic.”

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

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1 Comment

  1. I wonder when the occupation finally is over, when the vile fiends have nowhere to go, not even the sea, what they will do. What will they say to justify their pleas of not being cast into the sea,the desert, in prison? Will they say they didn’t know? They better dream up something better than that. If I can know,being outside the hideous occupation, they being part and parcel of it definitely do as well. How decrepit. May Allah never show you mercy or kindness

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