Palestinian paramedics fear Gaza dangers will spread to West Bank

The Israeli military has increased the number of road closures for Palestinians across the West Bank, making waiting times much longer for al-Muhtaseb and Amro and sometimes preventing them from being able to reach the casualties in time to save them.Those restrictions, which Israel says are necessary for security reasons, have forced the paramedics to look for alternatives – but that can lead to problems.

“The entrances to cities are closed at night, so when there is someone who needs to reach a hospital, we use a handover method at the checkpoint,” al-Muhtaseb says, describing how ambulances park on either side of the checkpoint and then paramedics carrying the patient walk across to hand them over rather than try to cross with the vehicle.

“This is risky and stopping us from approaching the checkpoints, as well as the death threats and the shots fired towards us, prevent us from being able to bring the patient [to hospital] promptly,” al-Muhtaseb explains. “In some instances, it took 75 instead of 10 minutes, which is dangerous for the patient … We need every minute we can get to save someone’s life.”

Targeting Palestinians

Al-Muhtaseb says the danger for paramedics is increasing, particularly in light of the killings of more than 350 medical workers by Israel in Gaza and repeated attacks on hospitals.

“The Israeli army targets every Palestinian … even though we are protected as an organisation by international humanitarian law,” al-Muhtaseb says, pointing to the killing of two PRCS paramedics in Gaza who were sent to rescue six-year-old Hind Rajab who called pleading for help after the Israeli army killed all the family members in a car with her.

“Coordination was under way with the Red Cross to ensure that the ambulance would arrive at the child’s location, and when the message arrived permitting the ambulance crews to proceed, our colleagues headed to the location,” al-Muhtaseb recounts.

“Within less than half an hour, communication with the colleagues inside the vehicle was cut off, and for 12 days, we were not allowed to advance towards the location, and we were unable to get any information [about what had happened].”

The Red Crescent was forced to wait for the army to withdraw and then found only “a melted vehicle” and “decomposed bodies”, he says.

Israel says it targets only sites where Hamas fighters are hiding or infrastructure and denies targeting civilians. But the story of the attempted rescue of Hind typifies the dangers Palestinian paramedics face in an environment where they know that their medical uniforms can offer little protection from Israeli fire.

It is a reality al-Muhtaseb and Amro contend with every day as they hope to make it home to their families.

“[It’s dangerous,] especially here in Hebron, … where [Palestinians] mix with settlers, who throw stones at us,” Amro says. “After October 7, it is not the same as before. … I pray every time before we leave in our ambulance.”