International protection stripped by the occupation.. Thus, the occupation targeted ambulance crews and journalists directly during the Jenin massacre

Ramallah -

"Nothing resembles what happened today in terms of targeting ambulance crews in Jenin, other than what happened during the invasion of the camp in 2002. Anyone who was moving was shot at or obstructed his work." With these words, paramedic Khaled Al-Ahmad (46 years old) described the targeting of the occupation forces Ambulance crews during the invasion of the city and camp of Jenin in the northern West Bank, Thursday morning.

Al-Ahmad - who was at the beginning of his work as a volunteer at the time of the invasion of the camp 21 years ago, and at that time participated in the evacuation of the martyrs and injured of the invasion - he rushed after the invasion today and since the first injury was reported in the camp, along with the rest of the ambulance crews, to the injured places to evacuate them, despite being informed in advance through the Red Cross of the necessity Coordinating with the occupation before entering the areas where the raid is taking place, in line with the humanity and duty of the profession.

The humanity of the paramedic's profession was not taken into account by the occupation forces, who fired live bullets at the paramedics' staff and obstructed their work, in violation of international agreements that guarantee them freedom of movement in these situations, he tells Al Jazeera Net.

Al-Ahmad and his crew tried, throughout the period during which the invasion continued, to evacuate a family in the Hawashin area in the heart of the camp, all of them children and women, and despite the presence of injured people in critical conditions, they were unable to reach them until after the complete withdrawal of the occupation army from the camp.

Preventing medical personnel from reaching the injured increases the difficulty of injuries - according to him - and raises the number of martyrs, as every second makes a difference in the case of a bullet wound.

He told Al-Jazeera Net, "We go out to the field adhering to all safety and security rules, and the ambulance is equipped and there is no possibility of error in identifying us as paramedics."

The third time, but the most difficult

This is not the first time that the work of the ambulance crews has been hampered during the storming of Jenin, and during the last three incursions, the occupation began to require the ambulance crews to coordinate in advance before entering the storming area.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said - in a statement, a copy of which was received by Al-Jazeera Net - that the occupation forces asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to inform the Society of the need not to move ambulance crews except with prior coordination.

Despite the prior coordination, as stated in the statement, the occupation targeted the association's vehicles with warning fire and prevented them from reaching the casualties.

For her part, Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Kaileh said - during a press conference at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah (central West Bank) that the attack on medical and ambulance personnel violates all laws, regulations, humanitarian and international laws, and the Geneva Conventions and treaties regarding the wounded and medical personnel, which guarantee them freedom of movement and the provision of health care. and medical services for the wounded, noting that these attacks amount to war crimes.

The targeting was not only for the ambulance crews of the Red Crescent, but also the private ambulance that worked in the invasion area, as happened with the ambulance driver, Fadi Jarrar, and his crew from the Life Ambulance.

Jarrar told Al-Jazeera Net, "We were near Al-Hawashin neighborhood, and one of the young men was wounded in front of us, and as soon as we moved in the ambulance, a sniper targeted us with two bullets that hit the windshield, which hindered our access to the injured."

Not only that, within 3 hours (the period of the occupation forces storming the camp), Jarrar was prevented from reaching the casualties except through alternative methods, which delayed their arrival to the cases.

Despite this, he was able to evacuate one of the martyrs and 5 injured people, one of whom was in serious condition.

Jarrar (51 years old) Al-Ahmad agrees that the scene today in the camp is no different from what it was during the "great" invasion in 2002. Everyone who was moving in the camp became vulnerable to being targeted with live bullets, including paramedics and journalists.

Everyone who moved in the camp was subject to targeting by the occupation forces, including the paramedics (French)

Journalists in the targeting circle

Photojournalist Issam Al-Rimawi was one of those who arrived at the camp at the beginning of the invasion, but he - and the rest of the journalists - were unable to work freely because everyone who moved was targeted by snipers.

Al-Rimawi told Al-Jazeera Net, "The targeting was with live bullets only, and any move by us means a real risk to life, with no exception for journalists."

Al-Rimawi and part of the press crews - who were at the entrance to the camp near the government hospital - were wearing the full press uniform that distinguishes their identity, but from their experience in the field they were convinced that the sniper who shoots does not differentiate between them and anyone else.

On the other side of the camp, there was another group of journalists who were targeted by live bullets, wounding a number of them.

The local G-Media correspondent, Laith Jaar, was one of the journalists who were injured. He told Al-Jazeera Net that he and the correspondent of "Roya" TV, Hafez Abu Sabra, and the independent journalist, Mahmoud Fawzi, were in an open place for the occupation soldiers, so they were targeted with bullets, which forced them to withdraw immediately, indicating that the shooting The fire continues.

Jaar confirms that what happened was a direct targeting of them as journalists, as there were no resistance fighters around them, and on the other hand, their journalistic identity was clear while they were wearing the journalistic uniform.

International protection denied by Israel

Violation of international laws is not new to Israel, especially by targeting journalists and paramedics in the field, and what happened in Jenin is a new episode of these violations of these laws and covenants that guarantee protection and freedom of work for these groups.

Director of Al-Haq Humanitarian Foundation, Shawan Jabarin, says that according to international laws, the paramedic enjoys protection while working in areas of war and conflict, and does not need a permit or coordination. On the contrary, the responsibility for securing this protection lies with the occupying power.

But what is happening in Jenin specifically - as Jabarin tells Al-Jazeera Net - is an attempt to restrict the work of these crews and that the provision of assistance to the injured is subject to prior approval for each case, which delays the work of humanitarian aid and is considered a crime punishable by international law.