Was the Palestinian medic shot acting as a human shield?
The Palestinian medic who was killed by IDF gunfire last Friday during clashes along the Gaza security fence served as a human shield for protesters trying to cross the fence, according to a new video posted on Twitter by the IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman Thursday.
The video appears to show medic Razan Najjar throwing a smoke grenade into an open area and announcing that she is offering herself as a human shield.
“Razan Najjar was not an angel, like they made her out to be. Hamas puts her in front of the cameras, and she boasts of serving as a human shield... [they] exploit even medical personnel to serve Hamas’s terrorist purposes,” Gendelman said.
AFP Palestinian affairs correspondent Joe Dyke, however, took issue with the IDF’s narrative of the incident,
tweeting a video suggesting the quote was taken out of context.
According to Dyke, the quote ends with, “and rescuer for the injured on the front lines.”
On Monday, the IDF published the results of its initial investigation into the death of 21-year-old Najjar.
According to the results, only a small number of bullets were fired, and none were directed at Najjar. The General Staff’s debriefing mechanism and its findings will be transferred to the IDF’s attorney general’s office.
The Palestinians claimed that Najjar, who had volunteered to help the wounded in the field, was killed by IDF sniper fire in the Khan Younis area.
MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint List) agreed, he said Thursday.
“A delegation of international investigators should be authorized to probe Razan’s death, along with other cases of Palestinian civilians killed by snipers,” Tibi said, “the murder of Najjar is a despicable war crime.”
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