Israeli authorities are denying a Palestinian paramedic, one of two aid workers who survived an attack on emergency responders in Gaza last month, from having legal representation or visitation rights during his detention, his family has said.
In a petition to the High Court of Justice on Wednesday, the family of medic Assad al-Nassasra sought details about the unnamed facility he is being held in.
On behalf of the paramedic’s wife, HaMoked, an NGO dedicated to helping Palestinians amid increasing Israeli restrictions and violations, filed an urgent petition “against the military’s refusal to disclose the whereabouts of the Gazan paramedic detained 23 March.”
In their latest update, HaMoked noted that the military had barred Nassasra from meeting with a lawyer until 7 May, in accordance with the amended Unlawful Combatants Law.
The legislation grants the military the power to detain individuals indefinitely if they find them to pose a threat to Israel’s security without having to provide proof for these claims.
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Several amendments have been made since 7 October 2023, including the ability to refuse detainees access to legal representation for the first 45 days of their imprisonment. Additionally, Israeli authorities can withold information about an indiviual’s whereabouts and conditions.
HaMoked, alongside other rights organisations, have previously filed a petition against the Unlawful Combatants Law, which has been pending for over a year.
“HaMoked stressed in the petition that disclosing the fact and place of a person’s detention are vital for upholding their basic rights, primarily the rights to life and bodily integrity, and that withholding this information contradicts international law and Israeli law alike, and leaves detainees vulnerable to violations of their rights, including torture,” the NGO wrote in a statement.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) had previously reported Nassasra missing since 23 March, when Israeli forces shot dead 15 paramedics and emergency resp0nders while they were on a rescue mission, before burying them underneath their crushed ambulances in a shallow grave.
Initially, the military claimed that soldiers opened fire on vehicles approaching their position in the dark without emergency lights or markings, deeming them “suspicious”.
However, video footage recovered from the mobile phone of one of the victims and released by the PRCS contradicted this account. The video showed emergency workers in uniform, operating clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks with lights on, being fired upon by soldiers.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it had “received information that the PRCS medic Assad al-Nassasra has been detained in an Israeli place of detention”, but it did not provide information about where he was being held.
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Another survivor from the attack, Munther Abed, reported that he had seen Nassasra being led away alive and blindfolded by Israeli officers following the killings.
On Sunday, the Israeli army confirmed Nassasra’s detention.
Aminah Komber, an attorney who represents the paramedics family on behalf of HaMoked, spoke to Haaretz about the petition, saying it concerns “the most fundamental right of a detainee – that his arrest and whereabouts be confirmed.
“It is also the right of the detainee’s family to know the fate of their loved one,” Komber added.
“Israeli authorities must immediately inform the family of al-Nassasra’s whereabouts. The circumstances of his arrest raise serious concerns for his well-being, and he must be granted immediate access to legal counsel.”
Amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, emergency workers and paramedics have faced unprecedented threats.
More than 1,400 medical workers have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Around 360 others from the health sector remain in Israeli detention.
