Israeli Soldiers physically abused a PRCS medical team during its Humanitarian Mission

Sunday, 05/04/2009, at 01:30 am: The PRCS Hebron Emergency Medial Station received a call from the Magan David Adom (MDA) indicating that there is wounded, who is a Palestinian worker in an Israeli factory, in MDA ambulance at the tunnels checkpoint south of Jerusalem and he needs to be transported by a PRCS ambulance. Immediately a PRCS ambulance was dispatched from the Beit Ummar station to the location of the incident.

When the PRCS ambulance reached the Beit Ummar junction, the Israeli soldiers stopped it and obliged the driver to step out of it. Without any provocation one of the soldiers hit the driver on the head using his weapon. The soldier said "what are you doing here in this time?" Another soldier forced the PRCS medic to get out of the ambulance and physically abused him. The medical team explained to the soldiers the urgency to reach the wounded. After 20 minutes had elapsed the soldiers allowed the ambulance to pass.

The PRCS express its concern to the increase of the violation cases of the Israeli soldiers against its medical personnel who provide pure humanitarian services to the wounded, sick and others in need with impartiality and neutrality. The PRCS sees these practices as a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention which is legally applied to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The convention guarantees the protection and respect of persons who engage in the search for, removal and transport of and caring for wounded and sick civilians (article 20), and ensured the right of recognized National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to pursue their activities in accordance with Red Cross principles, as defined by the international Red Cross Conferences despite of temporary and exceptional measures imposed for urgent reasons of security by the Occupied Power (article 63).

Moreover, PRCS affirms the Israeli authorities' responsibility, as an occupying power, toward the violation of its soldiers, and that it is legally obliged to open an investigation and to prosecute the perpetrators.