CNN
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According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Association (PRCS), Palestinian Medic, who was detained during a fatal Israeli military attack on an emergency convoy, was released on Tuesday.
Assad al-Nusasura went missing after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a convoy of emergency vehicles in Gaza on March 23. He was part of a crew member trying to find a missing PRCS ambulance in Rafa, southern Gaza.
The IDF attack killed 15 people in three separate shootings, including eight PRCS Medics and UN workers in Bulgarian. Their vehicles were clearly marked with the PRCS insignia. The IDF, along with the vehicles they were traveling, buried the bodies of those killed in the tombs of the masses.
According to PRCS Medic Munther Abed (sitting behind an ambulance on his way to the scene), the crew was suddenly targeted by heavy, direct shootings by Israeli forces. He told CNN he witnessed the burial of IDF’s body and vehicles and saw bulldozers dig large holes, crush the vehicles and load them into the holes.
Photos and videos of grave excavations reviewed by CNN show that some of the PRCS paramedics depicted in the photographs are buried in the group’s coat of arms and uniforms decorated with reflective stripes. Others still wear blue latex gloves, showing that they are on duty and ready to respond to the call of pain.
It took three weeks to learn that Al-Nsasrah was in custody by the IDF. Prior to this, his fate had been unknown since the attack.
On Tuesday, PRCS posted a video to Medic X, reuniting with his colleagues, clearing tears as he hugged him one by one.
“Today, Israeli occupation forces have released their colleague Asad (Al Nusasra), a survivor of the massacre that targeted Rafa’s medical team,” PRCS wrote in another X-post.
“He was detained for 37 days and suffered poor health at Al Amal Hospital, a member of the Khan Eunice association, where he received the necessary medical check-up,” the humanitarian organisation continued.
The Israeli military initially claimed that some of the vehicles it targeted were acting suspiciously, but some of the people killed were Hamas members, later saying that “special failures” led to the killings.
According to the IDF, the forces fired at what they believed was a “specific threat” in what they called an “operational misconception.”
The video showed a marked ambulance convoy driving with headlights and flashing emergency lights. Aid agencies also denied that Hamas militants were among those killed.
“The IDF regrets the harm caused by civilians who are not involved,” the IDF said in a statement released earlier this month. CNN contacted the military to comment on Al-Nsasrah’s release.
