An IDF spokesperson presented a video on Thursday showing evidence that a female Gazan medic shot and killed by the IDF last week was “no angel of mercy.” IDF Arabic spokesman Maj. Avichay Adraee tweeted “Razan al-Najjar is not the angel of mercy Hamas propaganda is making her out to be.”
Najjar was killed last Friday evening in clashes on the security fence that separates Gaza from Israel when thousands of Gazans rioted as part of the ongoing March of Return. Gazan health officials claimed that Najjar was one of several medics dressed in clearly identifiable medical uniforms who approached the fence with hands raised in order to evacuate wounded rioters.
In the video presented by Adraee, Najjar is interviewed in Arabic and is shown throwing a smoke grenade.
“I’m here on the line being a protective human shield,” Najjar, said in the interview.
Adraee wrote in Arabic, “Razan Najjar is not the queen of mercy, as Hamas is trying to present her. By her own admission, she served as a human shield for rioters, and this proves how Hamas exploits all members of Gaza society for its goals and those of Iran.”
#رزان_النجار لم تكن #ملاك_الرحمة كما تحاول دعاية #حماس تسويقها فاعترافها بأنها شكلت درعًا بشريًا للمشاغبين المحرضين يثبت كيف تستسغل حماس جميع فئات المجتمع الغزاوي لصالح أهدافها وأهداف #إيران. فهل المسعفون في العالم يلقون قنابل ويشاركون في أعمال شغب ويسمون أنفسهم دروعًا بشرية؟ pic.twitter.com/kJ89kf9PN2
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 7, 2018
“Do other paramedics around the world throw grenades and participate in riots, and call themselves human shields?” he asked.
After an investigation of the incident, the IDF released a statement on Tuesday saying that Najjar had not been deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers.
“During an initial examination regarding the incident that took place on June 1st, 2018, in which a 22-year-old Palestinian woman was killed, it was found that a small number of bullets were fired during the incident, and that no shots were deliberately or directly aimed towards her,” the IDF said.
In addition to the riots which pit IDF troops against thousands of rioters, over one hundred rockets and mortars were fired into Israel last week targeting civilians.
Approximately 118 Gazans have been killed in clashes with the IDF since the Hamas-led March of Return began on March 30. Hundreds of incendiary kites have led to massive arson damage in the agricultural region of Israel on the border with Gaza.
