Rafah: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) confirmed today that paramedic Asaad Al-Nassasrah, who had been missing following a deadly Israeli attack in Rafah last month, is currently being held by Israeli authorities.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, the confirmation was received through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ending days of uncertainty about Al-Nassasrah’s fate after he and his team came under heavy fire while on a humanitarian mission in Rafah, southern Gaza.
In a statement, the PRCS called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel for the immediate release of Al-Nassasrah, who was forcibly detained while performing his humanitarian duties. The organization condemned the attack, which killed eight of Al-Nassasrah’s colleagues, as a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
On March 30, the PRCS reported that eight of its paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike while responding to casualties in the Al-Hashashin area of Rafah. The team was on a mission to provide first aid to victims of an earlier Israeli strike when they were targeted.
The paramedics killed in the attack were: Mustafa Khafaja, Ezz Al-Deen Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Refaat Radwan, Mohammed Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammed Al-Heila, and Raed Al-Sharif. Additionally, six civil defense workers and a United Nations staff member were also recovered from the scene of the Rafah attack.