Rifat Ridwan, a paramedic Defied Israeli Occupation by Documenting Its Crime

By Yasmin Anbar April 24, 2025 95

Some great individuals immortalize their names in their lifetime within the pages of history that never forgets its impact, especially if that impact is for Palestine, in a commendable and decisive battle in its history like the "Flood of Al-Aqsa.

Who are those whose names were elevated by the paramedic Rifat Radwan, who documented the crime of his killing along with a group of paramedics and civil defense personnel through a video found on his phone after his departure and burial? The video captures the final moments before their execution on March 23rd, in the Sultan neighborhood of Rafah city in southern Gaza, in the midst of his patience, endurance, and reliance on God Almighty!

Forgive me, my mother, I chose this path to help people, the army has come," are the last words that Ridwan recorded for his mother, so she could have a lifeline after his loss and departure. Aside from the fact that he risked his life for a noble cause, this led him to be inscribed in the register of heroes and immortalized within it.

false occupation.

After his body was exhumed from the mass grave by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, they found a video lasting 6 minutes and 42 seconds on his phone, which showed the brutality of the occupation.

In the midst of the heavy hail of bullets fired at them by the occupying soldiers, amid the cries of some for help and assistance but to no avail, most of them were uttering the declaration of faith and awaiting their fate. The most significant revelation of the video is that the occupying army had reached them while they were all still alive; this indicates that they executed them with premeditation and malice, in a heinous crime that reflects only their brutality and arrogance.

The tournament was a refutation of the claims of the brutal occupier and a denial of their narrative through audio and video. They claimed that the ambulance vehicles that were carrying Rifat , along with civil defense crews and paramedics, were approaching the soldiers in a suspicious manner without activating lights or emergency signals, which led them to open fire towards it.

The video showed that the paramedics were wearing the approved reflective uniforms during emergency missions, and that all vehicles were equipped with their full set of lights.

He claimed that he spent his attack on the Civil Defense and Red Crescent crews on a member of the military wing of Hamas, in addition to 8 others belonging to the Palestinian movement and Islamic Jihad. The video showed that most of them were paramedics, and the arrogance of the occupier in the crime documented on the phone of the paramedic Ridwan is that the occupier opened fire on the paramedics who attempted to assist their colleagues. In the meantime, Ridwan recited the testimony of faith and it appeared that he was shot by them, and his voice became faint!

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A model of patience and resilience.

His last words after asking his mother for forgiveness were: "O Lord, accept me as a martyr, and repent for me and forgive me." Moments later, in the background of the video, the sound of gunfire was loud and clear, and in a heavy voice, Ridwan said: "The army has come.

The Civil Defense department in Gaza confirmed that they found the bodies of the crews buried 200 meters away from the location where their vehicles were, while they were wearing their recognizable orange uniforms used in humanitarian work.

It was also announced that some civil defense teams were found buried with their hands and feet bound, and with bullet wounds on their heads and chests, indicating that the occupation executed them after accurately identifying the nature of their work. Additionally, some were decapitated, while others were in body form. This is despite the fact that the first minute of the video showed that the ambulance vehicles were illuminated and intact, which indicates that the army intentionally destroyed the vehicles bearing the Palestinian Red Crescent emblem in an unimaginable crime.

In this way, Ridwan immortalized his name and presented the world with a magnificent example of sacrifice, first as a volunteer paramedic who told his mother that he went out to help people. He also exemplified the finest models of patience and endurance that the people of Gaza have held onto since the onset of the genocide against the Gaza Strip. He fortified himself with " Ayāh al-Kursī,"( Throne Verse) and in the midst of his difficult moments, he uttered the two testimonies of faith and sought his mother's approval, imploring God for forgiveness amid the horrors of the situation.

 

Read also: The spokesman for "Hamas"... Al- Qanou who carried the trust of the word until martyrdom.

 

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