If Only I Had More Hands… to Carry More Children

The scene in the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp, located in the northern occupied West Bank, looks as if an earthquake has struck its alleys: demolished homes, damaged streets, displaced people fleeing gunfire and drone strikes, and EMTs and volunteers searching for life in a scene overshadowed by death.

EMTs and volunteers in the Red Crescent and Red Cross societies are trained on how to deal with and respond to crisis, an earthquake here, a flood there, a building collapse in one place, a traffic accident in another. But in Palestine they are forced to apply what they have learned in the face of an ongoing earthquake called occupation.

Motaz Juma (40 years old), an EMT member with the Palestine Red Crecent Society (PRCS), woke up to a day that seemed difficult from its very first hours. Dozens of Palestinians were trapped in the Nur Shams refugee camp, crying out to be evacuated from their homes after the occupation forces besieged a neighborhood in the camp, where these people were waiting for PRCS teams to secure their safe exit.

Mutaz carries a boy and a girl in his arms, thinking of his own children at home and wishing he had more than two hands to carry more children from the besieged neighborhood. He walks them to safety, aware that the soldiers could open fire at any moment. Yet, he is determined to return to evacuate more.

Mutaz Juma, from the town of Beit Lid in Tulkarm, joined the PRCS in 2006 as a special education specialist. In 2019, he became part of the EMS department, as he held a license to drive an ambulance and completed advanced first aid training courses. 

Juma describes the scenes of displacement as extremely difficult, as people see EMTs and volunteers of the PRCS as their only means of survival from the Israeli occupation. He pointed out the challenges of coordinating the evacuation of displaced individuals and patients.

He added: “there is difficulty even in transporting medical cases, which has increased the burden on ambulances. Every patient requiring hospital admission now needs an ambulance for transport, as many people fear the occupation forces.” He emphasized that the workload had become overwhelmingly intense.

Detention for 17 Hours:

Juma and his team were detained for 17 hours while on their way to evacuate a family in Tulkarm refugee camp, despite having received prior coordination, they were still detained and restrained.

He stated: “When I was detained, the first thing that crossed my mind was what would happen to my family, especially when the occupation forces told me that I was going to be arrested. I endured horrific hours, thinking about my children and family, whom I had only been able to see for half an hour for the past five days.”

Juma emphasized that these situations affect them deeply, particularly due to his inability to see his children and family. However, he remains determined to return to work and continue volunteering. He is constantly present in the field, he even volunteers outside official working hours, using his personal vehicle.

Memories Box:

Juma recalls one of the most difficult moments that deeply affected him. He said that when he and his colleagues went to evacuate the family of the martyr Rahaf Al-Ashqar from Nur Shams refugee camp, after they had already driven a long distance from their home. Rahaf’s sister suddenly asked them to turn back, because she had forgotten a small box containing her late sister’s belongings, keepsakes she wanted to hold onto.

He said: “My eyes filled with tears when I saw the belongings of the martyr that her sister wanted to keep as a memory, Others might see them as ordinary objects, but to her, these were precious keepsakes, such as photos, cups, even her toothbrush. She was willing to risk her life just to hold onto them.”

Volunteering is Life:

Juma clarified that despite the difficult conditions, a large number of volunteer nurses decided to volunteer to provide support and assistance to the community. He emphasized that many nurses in Tulkarm refugee camp have formed a team and started providing first aid to the injured before transferring them to ambulances. Additionally, they transport the injured to the outskirts of the camp after providing them with first said, because ambulances are often unable to reach them.