‘Deliberate War Crime’: Palestinians Condemn Killing of Young Paramedic, Razan at Gaza Border

June 2, 2018 Blog, News
The paramedic Razan al-Najjar, who was killed by an Israeli sniper at the Gaza border on June 1. (Photo: via Twitter)

The killing of a 21-year-old female medical worker during the Great March of Return at the Gaza border is nothing short of a war crime, Palestinian officials said, calling on the international community to hold Israel responsible.

The murder of 21-year-old medical volunteer, Razan Al-Najjar, is a direct violation of all “international treaties and conventions” that ensure the protection of the medical staff in the conflict zones, Palestinian Minister of Health, Jawad Awwad, said late Friday, noting that the shooting of the paramedic must have been “deliberate” and amounted to a “war crime.”

The volunteer was shot in the chest by the Israeli Army on Friday near the border fence east of Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, while she was helping wounded Palestinians.

While the Israeli military has yet to comment on Najjar’s death, an anonymous witness told Reuters that, at the time of the tragedy, the medical worker wore a white uniform, which clearly distinguished her from the rest of the Palestinian crowd taking part in the 10th weekly Great March of Return protests.

Furthermore, the medical volunteer “raised her hands high in a clear way, but Israeli soldiers fired and she was hit in the chest,” the witness told Reuters.

Najjar became the latest victim of the Israeli crackdown on protesting Palestinians at the Gazan border. More than 120 protesters were injured by Israeli fire, including 40 by live bullets, directed at them by the IDF during the 10th Great March of Return rally. Another four paramedics were among those wounded while helping the injured.

The shooting of a medical worker is a “heinous crime committed by the occupation forces,” the Palestinian Minister of Justice, Ali Abu Diak, said in a statement, calling on the International Criminal Court to document Israeli brutality and to “try leaders, officials, officers, soldiers” and all those who committed “crimes against humanity.”

International humanitarian law affords special protection to medical personnel whose mission is to save lives in conflicts, under four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Article 24 was especially adopted to protect “medical personnel exclusively engaged in the search for, or the collection, transport or treatment of the wounded or sick.”

Over 120 Palestinians have so far been killed since the beginning of the Great March of Return, mainly by live Israeli fire amid the raging protests at the Gaza-Israel border, which began on March 30. Thousands of others have been injured as Israel maintains its right to protect the border by all means necessary.

(TeleSur, PC, Social Media)

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3 Comments

  1. this is the month of Ramadaan.
    Muslims are compelled to show restraint.Have they not shown it?.
    Can Israel now argue that her actions were life threatening to the lives of its citizens?.
    Is this not the action taken by cowards to kill paramedics and claim that Hamas was the intended target.
    I urge the UN to look at this and try to convince me how their lack of action against Israel is assisting the plight of these broken people.
    Razan Najjar I salute you and will continue to pray for our people.
    She had her whole life ahead and she is one of the thousands of innocent who should remain in your conscious selfish minds.
    Madame Haley I wonder how you will sugar coat this one?.
    A South African.n

  2. Similarly to Polish nurses during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, they also shot like ducks.
    Those who were shooting at the Polish nurses, they were Nazi Barbarians and you can rightly call them so many years later …

  3. There is no denying the fact that one who kills doctors, nurses, aid workers and people of red crescent is considered to be the violater of Geneva Convention.For instance, the brutal killing of Razzal al- Najjar, paramedics during treatment of wounded people, is prominent example of Geneve Convention violation. Hence, I want UNSC ,IHL, UNO, HRC and Geneva Convention take strict action against such sorts of brutal acts committed on the land of innocent Palestinians.

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