Palestinian medic survived by pleading in Hebrew 'Don’t shoot! I’m Israeli'

According to the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the medic Asaad al-Nsasrah has not spoken with the media since Israeli soldiers killed 15 emergency responders in southern Gaza on March 23.

Words in Hebrew could be heard in the final moments of a video of the killings that was subsequently found and made public.

"The soldiers were so close to have a dialogue with somebody. And that somebody was Asaad,” said Younis al-Khatib, the Red Crescent chief. “What Asaad said in Hebrew: ‘Don’t shoot. I am Israeli.’ And soldiers got a bit confused.”

The Israeli military declined to comment.

“You know why he said that? His mother is Israeli. Asaad’s mother is Israeli — Palestinian Arab Israeli from Bir Saba,” al-Khatib said.

Al-Khatib spoke on Thursday to reporters in Geneva at the headquarters of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Israeli troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave, according to the U.N. The surviving medic was detained by Israel for over a month and released back to Gaza.