CNN
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A Palestinian medic who was detained during a deadly Israeli military attack on an emergency convoy last month was released on Tuesday, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Assad Al-Nsasrah went missing after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a convoy of emergency vehicles in Gaza on March 23. He was part of a crew who were trying to find a missing PRCS ambulance in Rafah, southern Gaza, which was later discovered to also have been targeted by the IDF.
The IDF attacks killed 15 people in three separate shootings, including 8 PRCS medics. Their vehicles were clearly marked with the PRCS insignia. The IDF buried the bodies of those killed in a mass grave, along with the vehicles they had been traveling in.
According to PRCS medic Munther Abed – who was sitting in the back of the ambulance en route to the scene – the crew was suddenly targeted with heavy, direct gunfire by Israeli forces. He told CNN that he witnessed the IDF’s burial of the bodies and vehicles, seeing bulldozers dig a large pit, crush the vehicles and pile them into the hole.
Photos and videos of the grave’s excavation reviewed by CNN showed some of the PRCS paramedics pictured in photos were buried in their uniforms emblazoned with the group’s emblem and reflective stripes. Others were still wearing their blue latex gloves, indicating that they were on duty and prepared to respond to distress calls.
It took the PRCS three weeks to learn that Al-Nsasrah had been detained by the IDF. Prior to this, his fate had been unknown since the attack.
On Tuesday, the PRCS posted a video to X of the medic reuniting with his colleagues, wiping away tears as he hugged them one by one.
“Today, the Israeli occupation forces released our colleague Asaad (Al-Nsasrah), a survivor of the massacre targeting medical teams in Rafah,” the PRCS wrote in a separate X post.
“He had been detained for 37 days and arrived in poor health at Al-Amal Hospital, affiliated with the association in Khan Younis, where he underwent the necessary medical examinations,” the humanitarian organization continued.
Though the Israeli military had initially claimed without evidence that some of the vehicles it targeted were moving suspiciously, and that some of those killed were Hamas members, it later said “professional failures” led to the killings.
According to the IDF, troops opened fire on what they believed to be a “tangible threat” amid what the military called an “operational misunderstanding.”
Videos showed that the convoy of marked ambulances were driving with headlights and flashing emergency lights on. Aid agencies also denied that any Hamas militants were among those killed.
“The IDF regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians,” the IDF said in a statement published earlier this month. CNN has reached out to the military for comment on Al-Nsasrah’s release.
Note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to the killing of a Bulgarian aid worker. That was a separate case that occurred on March 19.
