Gaza medic released after 37-day Israeli detention

A Palestinian paramedic, Assad al-Nassasra, detained by Israeli troops during an attack that killed 15 other emergency workers in Gaza, has been released after 37 days, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said. The Israeli military had confirmed it was holding him during a briefing on an internal inquiry into the attack, which it attributed to "professional failures" and "operational misunderstanding." The PRCS denounced the findings as an attempt to justify a "war crime," and a senior UN humanitarian official warned that a lack of accountability undermines international law. The incident occurred amid an ongoing conflict that has killed at least 52,365 people in Gaza since October 2023.

Israel's Foreign Minister, Gidon Sa'ar, boycotted a UN court hearing, calling the UN a "rotten, anti-Israel, and antisemitic body" that should be on trial for covering up terror affiliates within the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Sa'ar claimed that 25% of UNRWA staff were implicated in terrorist activity before October 7, 2023, and that UNRWA is a proxy of Hamas. The UN Secretary-General's spokesperson responded, saying that the UN took the allegations seriously and that UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini took "extremely quick action" in response to the complaints. The hearing was related to Israel's legal responsibilities in Gaza, with the UN expressing concerns about Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

Asaad al Nsasrah, a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, has been released from Israeli detention after 37 days. He was detained following an Israeli attack on 23 March that killed 15 aid workers. Al Nsasrah was one of two first responders who survived the attack. Israel confirmed he was alive and in detention three weeks after the incident. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society shared a video of al Nsasrah reuniting with colleagues after his release, and he is currently undergoing a medical examination at al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.