{"id":112701,"date":"2018-06-11T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=112701"},"modified":"2018-06-09T19:38:50","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T18:38:50","slug":"un-agencies-express-outrage-over-killing-of-palestinian-volunteer-medic-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/06\/un-agencies-express-outrage-over-killing-of-palestinian-volunteer-medic-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Agencies Express Outrage over Killing of Palestinian Volunteer Medic in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

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United Nations officials have expressed their outrage over Friday\u2019s [1 Jun] killing by Israeli security forces of 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, a Palestinian volunteer medic who was helping the injured along the Gaza border.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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4 Jun 2018 – <\/em>\u201cHealthcare workers must be allowed to perform their duties without fear of death or injury<\/a>,\u201d said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick.<\/p>\n

He added that it is difficult to see how the killing \u201csquares with Israel\u2019s obligation as occupying power to ensure the welfare of the population of Gaza\u201d \u2013 the Palestinian enclave occupied by Israel.<\/p>\n

According to media reports, Razan al-Najjar, a member of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), was hit by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces while trying, with other first responders, to reach those injured during Friday\u2019s demonstrations against Israeli policies in Gaza, dubbed the \u2018the Great March of Return\u2019.<\/p>\n

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Razan al-Najjar \u2013 972mag.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Ms. al-Najjar was taken to the European Gaza Hospital after being reportedly shot in the chest, but died shortly afterwards. Three others in her team were also injured.<\/p>\n

The protests, still ongoing, were initially organized to take place from 30 March to 15 May to mark \u201cal-Nakba\u201d or \u201cthe Catastrophe,\u201d by which Palestinians remember their mass displacement during the 1948-1949 war.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have marched along the border of the Gaza Strip \u2013 the Palestinian enclave occupied by Israel.<\/p>\n

Fuelled by United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital and the official opening of its embassy there on 14 May, the demonstrations peaked that day and clashes at the border fence resulted in the killing of at least 60 Palestinians by Israel security forces.<\/p>\n

The latest incident comes on top of \u201can already-staggering number of attacks on healthcare personnel\u201d reported since the end of March, said a statement released by UN agencies on Saturday;\u00a0245 health workers and 40 ambulance crews have been caught up in the attacks, according to data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, PMRS and the Union of Health Work Committees.<\/p>\n

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Razan al-Najjar provides medical aid to protesters in Gaza wounded by Israel forces. CNN<\/p><\/div>\n

Attacks on medical teams in Gaza not only risk the life and health of staff and patients, but also undermine the overall capacity of Gaza\u2019s chronically underfunded health system.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch attacks on health care must not happen, and we need to enhance our efforts to ensure the protection of our frontline health workers. There are clear obligations to safeguard healthcare under international law and these must be respected,\u201d said Gerald Rockenschaub, Head of the World Health Organization<\/a> (WHO) office in the occupied Palestinian territory, or oPt.<\/p>\n

Under international human rights law, lethal force may only be used as a last resort when there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very difficult to see how Razan posed such a threat to heavily-armed, well-protected Israeli forces in defensive positions on the other side of the fence,\u201d James Heenan, Head of Office, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/a> in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).<\/p>\n

\u201cReports indicate that Razan was assisting injured demonstrators and wearing her first responder clothing, clearly distinguishing her as a healthcare worker, even from a distance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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Attacks on medical teams in Gaza not only risk the life and health of staff and patients, but also undermine the overall capacity of Gaza\u2019s chronically underfunded health system. (File)<\/p><\/div>\n

Go to Original \u2013 news.un.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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Join the<\/em><\/strong> BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS <\/em><\/strong>campaign<\/em><\/strong> <\/span>to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/strong> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/strong> BARCODE<\/strong> STARTS WITH<\/strong> 729<\/strong>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United Nations officials have expressed their outrage over Friday\u2019s [1 Jun] killing by Israeli security forces of 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, a Palestinian volunteer medic who was helping the injured along the Gaza border. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":112702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}