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| Gaza conflict: ‘They treat us like the enemy’ – the ambulance drivers on the front line | Gaza conflict: ‘They treat us like the enemy’ – the ambulance drivers on the front line |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Amr al-Khadar was using the few surprising hours of calm to try and scrape the tar off his boots. It had formed a perfect contour when he rushed into a burning mechanics yard in Shujaiya after a missile strike. | Amr al-Khadar was using the few surprising hours of calm to try and scrape the tar off his boots. It had formed a perfect contour when he rushed into a burning mechanics yard in Shujaiya after a missile strike. |
| The task had been made especially awkward as one hand, burnt when pulling aside a piece of hot metal to get to an injured man, was heavily bandaged. | The task had been made especially awkward as one hand, burnt when pulling aside a piece of hot metal to get to an injured man, was heavily bandaged. |
| It had been hours of frantic work after a missile strike on the main market which resulted in more than 150 injured and 15 dead. “It could have been many more killed if both the fuel tanks they had in that garage had exploded, luckily only the smaller one did, ” said 34-year-old Mr Khadar. “There were people lying in the streets. Two of us had to jump over them to get to the men in the garage; otherwise the people there would have burnt alive. It was a terrible thing that happened,” | It had been hours of frantic work after a missile strike on the main market which resulted in more than 150 injured and 15 dead. “It could have been many more killed if both the fuel tanks they had in that garage had exploded, luckily only the smaller one did, ” said 34-year-old Mr Khadar. “There were people lying in the streets. Two of us had to jump over them to get to the men in the garage; otherwise the people there would have burnt alive. It was a terrible thing that happened,” |
| People were caught unawares, out shopping in the days of Eid al-Fitr. There was a degree of reassurance as the Israeli military had declared a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire; it was a rare opportunity to stock up.There was also the unspoken hope that lightning, albeit man-made, would not strike twice on the same day. In the early hours of the morning, the Jabaliya Elementary Girls school, which was being used as a refugee shelter, had been attacked. | People were caught unawares, out shopping in the days of Eid al-Fitr. There was a degree of reassurance as the Israeli military had declared a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire; it was a rare opportunity to stock up.There was also the unspoken hope that lightning, albeit man-made, would not strike twice on the same day. In the early hours of the morning, the Jabaliya Elementary Girls school, which was being used as a refugee shelter, had been attacked. |
| It had cost 19 lives and more than 100 wounded. International condemnation followed, with the UN charging that Israel may have committed a war crimes and even strictures, albeit muted, from the US. | It had cost 19 lives and more than 100 wounded. International condemnation followed, with the UN charging that Israel may have committed a war crimes and even strictures, albeit muted, from the US. |
| The Israeli military insisted that its troops were responding to mortar rounds from near the school. It had added that it would carry out an investigation into what happened. | The Israeli military insisted that its troops were responding to mortar rounds from near the school. It had added that it would carry out an investigation into what happened. |
| The ambulance service, after being busy with Jabaliya and also bombings near Khan Younis, was regrouping. Most of the wounded had to be ferried to hospitals by private cars and taxis. | The ambulance service, after being busy with Jabaliya and also bombings near Khan Younis, was regrouping. Most of the wounded had to be ferried to hospitals by private cars and taxis. |
| “We used all the ambulances we had available, which is not many,” Mr Khadar acknowledged. “There is always problem with getting fuel, and the shifts were light because some of the men, who were living in different towns, had gone home for Eid.” | “We used all the ambulances we had available, which is not many,” Mr Khadar acknowledged. “There is always problem with getting fuel, and the shifts were light because some of the men, who were living in different towns, had gone home for Eid.” |
| Mr Khadar rushed out without telling his wife and children where he was going, a practice many in the emergency services adopt to spare them further worry: “An ambulance I was standing next to got shot up by the soldiers in Beit Hanoun and I made the mistake of phoning home to tell them I was all right. Bad mistake, they wanted me to go home straight away. I tried to explain we have a job to do, but it’s difficult,” he said. | Mr Khadar rushed out without telling his wife and children where he was going, a practice many in the emergency services adopt to spare them further worry: “An ambulance I was standing next to got shot up by the soldiers in Beit Hanoun and I made the mistake of phoning home to tell them I was all right. Bad mistake, they wanted me to go home straight away. I tried to explain we have a job to do, but it’s difficult,” he said. |
| Most of them have been doing the job without getting paid, because they are employed by Gaza’s Hamas administration which is bankrupt. Public employees hired by Fatah, on the other hand, receive their salaries; another point of the internecine friction between the two Palestinian organizations. | Most of them have been doing the job without getting paid, because they are employed by Gaza’s Hamas administration which is bankrupt. Public employees hired by Fatah, on the other hand, receive their salaries; another point of the internecine friction between the two Palestinian organizations. |
| Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in Gaza City (AP) Sitting at their office at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, a group of paramedics reflected on other tribulations of being a Hamas employee. “The Israelis treat us like enemy, they see us not as the ambulance service but as Hamas, they are breaking international law doing this, but we know they can do that and get away with it. We have come to accept being shot at” said Yusuf Abu Musahem. | Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in Gaza City (AP) Sitting at their office at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, a group of paramedics reflected on other tribulations of being a Hamas employee. “The Israelis treat us like enemy, they see us not as the ambulance service but as Hamas, they are breaking international law doing this, but we know they can do that and get away with it. We have come to accept being shot at” said Yusuf Abu Musahem. |
| Sometimes with lethal consequences; one of their colleagues, Mohammed al-Abdala, was killed in Beit Hanoun last week. | Sometimes with lethal consequences; one of their colleagues, Mohammed al-Abdala, was killed in Beit Hanoun last week. |
| The Israeli military claimed that fighters had been using ambulances for transport. This is denied by the paramedics. They did so with a touch of weariness. “They always say that, but then they check the ambulances in the front-line areas anyway, if there were resistance people there, they will find them,” said Abu Moussab. “But perhaps they think all ambulances are carrying the resistance, maybe that’s why they shoot at us routinely; deny us entry to pick up the wounded.” | The Israeli military claimed that fighters had been using ambulances for transport. This is denied by the paramedics. They did so with a touch of weariness. “They always say that, but then they check the ambulances in the front-line areas anyway, if there were resistance people there, they will find them,” said Abu Moussab. “But perhaps they think all ambulances are carrying the resistance, maybe that’s why they shoot at us routinely; deny us entry to pick up the wounded.” |
| Palestinians inspect a destroyed bus after Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza City (EPA) But the paramedics had been allowed in part of the way on that day in Abbasan and the outer edges of Khozaa. We had seen them carry out from smashed houses people who were dead, or barely alive, after being trapped, injured, in there for days. | Palestinians inspect a destroyed bus after Israeli airstrikes in the central Gaza City (EPA) But the paramedics had been allowed in part of the way on that day in Abbasan and the outer edges of Khozaa. We had seen them carry out from smashed houses people who were dead, or barely alive, after being trapped, injured, in there for days. |
| The corpses were taken to the mortuary of the European Hospital. Most of them were mutilated by shrapnel, decomposing after being left in the heat. Relations who had come to collect bodies could not identify them, many left shaken. Zeinab al-Haddad clung to her husband, tears rolling down her cheek. “That cannot be my brother, that is not him, he is a handsome boy”, she kept shaking her head. | The corpses were taken to the mortuary of the European Hospital. Most of them were mutilated by shrapnel, decomposing after being left in the heat. Relations who had come to collect bodies could not identify them, many left shaken. Zeinab al-Haddad clung to her husband, tears rolling down her cheek. “That cannot be my brother, that is not him, he is a handsome boy”, she kept shaking her head. |
| Watching, Hussein Mahmud, said: “It is very hard for them, of course. But they see this once, or maybe, in times like these, twice. But we have been seeing this every day. We cannot talk to our families about this; there is no one we can talk to really. I am sure we all have psychological problems.” | Watching, Hussein Mahmud, said: “It is very hard for them, of course. But they see this once, or maybe, in times like these, twice. But we have been seeing this every day. We cannot talk to our families about this; there is no one we can talk to really. I am sure we all have psychological problems.” |