Occupation arrests ambulance crew in central Gaza Strip, detains two of them

Palestinian medical sources reported on Tuesday that Israeli occupation forces stopped and arrested seven ambulance personnel belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The incident occurred while the medical team was crossing through a military checkpoint set up by the occupation army on Salah al-Din Street, which is the main artery connecting the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Health clarified that the arrest took place while the paramedics were carrying out their usual humanitarian duties of rescuing the wounded and transporting the sick. The sources indicated that the occupation authorities subjected the seven team members to harsh field interrogations, before deciding to release five of them later, while two paramedics remain in detention in an unknown location.

For its part, official health authorities condemned this military action, demanding immediate international intervention to secure the release of the remaining paramedics and ensure their safety. The ministry affirmed that the recurrence of incidents involving the arrest of medical personnel directly hinders the health system's ability to respond to emergency calls given the current conditions in the Strip.

The sources stressed that these practices constitute a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions, which grant special protection to paramedics and medical facilities in conflict zones. They considered that obstructing the work of ambulance crews contributes to exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and places the lives of hundreds of citizens who need urgent medical care in real danger as a result of the continuous restrictions on relief movements.

Targeting medical teams and obstructing their work constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and undermines healthcare efforts.