Israel forces shoot medic in both feet in West Bank camp

Israeli forces shot a medic in both feet while he was working in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said.

The Red Crescent said the incident involving its medic occurred in Askar camp near Nablus, where an Israeli raid took place on Monday.

The medic was hospitalised, PRCS said.

"Shooting live ammunition at a paramedic while they're trying to carry out their vital duties is simply unconscionable," Aisha Mansour, West Bank director of British group Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), told The New Arab.

"The international community must act to ensure that there is a genuine investigation and real accountability for this latest attack and the hundreds of other violations against the Palestine Red Crescent Society… that Israeli forces have perpetrated this year.

"MAP has recently agreed to provide protective equipment to PRCS paramedics, and incidents of direct targeting like this show how important our support is."

MAP announced last week that it would donate 20 bulletproof vests and helmets to the organisation.

🚨Today, Israeli forces shot a @PalestineRCS medic in both feet with live ammunition, while he was carrying out his humanitarian work during an incursion in Askar refugee camp, near #Nablus.

The medic is currently in hospital.#NotATarget pic.twitter.com/4dZngvH95I

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 24, 2023

Israeli forces also prevented all Red Crescent ambulances from accessing Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarm to tend to injured people early on Monday morning. Nur Shams was also raided.

Israeli forces stopped an ambulance crew reaching a woman in labour in the camp, held them for half an hour and made them remove their bulletproof vests and clothes, PRCS said in a press release.

"In light of this, PRCS views with great concern the targeting of its medical teams, and the denial of their access to the sick and wounded, in addition to treating them in a degrading manner," the group said.

"These violations pose a danger to civilian lives and their physical safety.

"They violate the human right to access necessary medical care and put medics and health workers at risk, necessitating urgent international intervention to ensure their protection and respect for their rights."

PRCS said Israeli forces are committing violations against the society's medical missions with increasing frequency.

The group added that it has recorded 193 violations in the first half of 2023, which averages to about one a day.

"PRCS calls on the international community to uphold its legal responsibilities in ensuring international law is respected, and to compel Israeli occupation authorities to comply with their contractual and customary legal obligations," it added.

"These obligations highlight the need to respect and protect medical teams, and to facilitate their access wherever there is a need for their services."

The raids on Askar and Nur Shams camps on Monday saw 15 Palestinians injured overall, according to the Palestinian health ministry and Red Crescent figures.

Among 13 people hurt in Nur Shams were nine who were injured by shrapnel, the health ministry said.