DaysofPal- A former United Nations official who worked in Gaza has accused Israeli forces of carrying out a systematic and brutal killing in Gaza, including the direct targeting of paramedics and healthcare facilities during the Israeli genocidal war.
In recently published memoirs, Jonathan Whittall detailed the deeply disturbing scenes witnessed on the ground, alleging that Palestinian civilians were subjected to widespread and deliberate attacks.
Among the most harrowing accounts, he described the exhumation of the bodies of paramedics who had been buried in their uniforms.
Whittall said emergency responders and civil defense teams were repeatedly targeted despite clearly identifiable humanitarian markings, such as Red Crescent uniforms and illuminated ambulances.
He recounted a specific incident on March 30, 2025, when he and colleagues stood over a mass grave in Rafah.
There, they discovered the bodies of paramedics who had reportedly been killed, some by gunfire, even though they bore visible medical insignia.
According to Whittall, rescue teams were often unable to reach the wounded or missing for days due to Israeli military restrictions, ongoing gunfire, and blocked roads, factors that significantly worsened the humanitarian crisis.
He also referenced the case of a young girl, Hind Rajab, who reportedly bled to death inside a vehicle that had been struck by hundreds of bullets by Israeli forces.
Whittall said that paramedics dispatched to rescue her were also killed, despite prior coordination.
The former official argued that the events in Gaza were not merely the result of wartime conditions or isolated errors but rather reflected a deliberate policy.
He alleged that the humanitarian coordination system, intended to protect civilians, was instead used to control aid entry and facilitate military operations.
Whittall further claimed that restrictions on humanitarian aid were politically motivated and implemented with prior knowledge of their deadly consequences for civilians, adding that such actions had been documented in UN reports.
He described the destruction of hospitals and healthcare infrastructure as part of a broader dismantling of essential life-support systems. Survivors of bombardment, he said, were left to face death either beneath rubble or due to the absence of medical care.
The report also highlighted repeated attacks on healthcare facilities, including the bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital and the closure of major medical centers such as the European Gaza Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Medical personnel and journalists were also among the casualties, he noted.
Whittall concluded that the situation in Gaza extends beyond direct killings, encompassing the deliberate destruction of the means necessary for survival, which is an act of genocide.
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