PRCS: Targeted in the Line of Duty

By: Ra’ed Al Nims

Abdelrazzak Abou Athra (34) is a volunteer in the emergency medical services who has been working with PRCS since 2004 at its branch in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. On Friday April 6, 2018, Abdelrazzak and his colleagues from the Society’s Emergency Medical Center in Rafah were stationed near the Strip’s eastern borders, where they helped evacuate and treat the tens of casualties wounded as Israeli occupation forces cracked down on protesters taking part in the March of Return.

Black smoke engulfed the area as masses of tires burned, while the stench of tear gas fired by Israeli occupation soldiers filled the air. Ambulance sirens were deafening. Abdelrazzak was on his way back from the PRCS’ field medical station when he saw several young men waving at him and calling for help.

 The young men were about 300 meters away from the barbed wire fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel. Abdelrazzak and another colleague drove towards them. They assisted a person suffering from tear gas suffocation as Israeli soldiers continued firing tear gas canisters and live ammunition at the protesters. Suddenly, Abdelrazzak felt a sharp pain in his foot. He realized that he has been shot and gestured to his colleagues to help him.

According to Abdelrazzak, “My colleagues immediately took me to the field medical station together with the young man we originally came to assist. At the station, other colleagues checked my wound and stopped the bleeding. As I sat in the station waiting to be transported to PRCS’ Al Amal hospital, I heard someone gasping for breath. I turned around and saw a 13 year-old boy whose breathing was labored because of excess phlegm blocking his airways.

I completely forgot my wound and left my bed in order to elevate his head a bit to allow him to breathe more easily. Then I performed CPR on him until he started breathing normally again. My colleagues arrived and took over, before transporting me to hospital.

I do not know why Israeli occupation soldiers shot me. I was wearing the official PRCS’ uniform and the Society’s ambulance carries the Red Crescent emblem, and both the uniform and the emblem are protected by International Humanitarian Law. By shooting at us soldiers aim at hindering our humanitarian work. But with the help of God I will return to work alongside my colleagues and will do my utmost to provide emergency services to Palestinians and to all those in need”.

End.