"Help Me, Dad": Palestinian Paramedic's Last Call Before Israeli Attack Killed Him

Fifteen Palestinian paramedics were killed in a targeted strike on ambulances in Rafah, southern Gaza, last month, according to a CNN investigation that contradicts the Israeli military's explanation of the incident.

Among the dead was 21-year-old volunteer paramedic Mohammad Al-Hila, working with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Mohammad had been missing since March 8 along with several members of his team after responding to an emergency call near Tal al-Sultan in Rafah. 

His remains, along with others, were recovered last week from a mass grave where 15 first responders were buried alongside their destroyed ambulances.

According to Mohammad's father, Hassan Hosni Al-Hila, also a paramedic, his son managed to make a final call just minutes before his death. "He was saying 'Come to me, Dad... help me. We were targeted by the Israelis, and they are now shooting at us directly,'" Hassan told CNN. 

Hassan later participated in the recovery of his son's body, found just 500 metres from his own PRCS field hospital.

The PRCS reported the convoy consisted of clearly marked ambulances, all bearing the red crescent emblem, and their emergency lights were turned on. The PRCS said they coordinated their route with the Israeli military through a deconfliction process.

A paramedic - identified by PRCS as Rifaat Radwan - is heard repeatedly reciting the 'shahada', the Islamic declaration of faith said by Muslims when facing death. In his final moments, Radwan is heard saying, "Forgive me Mom, this is the path I chose - to help people - I swear I didn't choose this path but to help people."

Ashraf Abu Libda was part of the second PRCS dispatch sent to aid the first team. At 4:55 am, as their convoy came under fire, Libda made a phone call to a colleague. In an audio recording obtained by CNN, he was heard saying, "There are soldiers, there are soldiers here." In the background, a voice speaking Hebrew is clearly audible, saying, "Come, come, come." Seconds later, communication is cut off.

A CNN analysis of video footage, satellite images, and eyewitness testimonies showed that the ambulances were driving with their emergency lights flashing, challenging Israeli claims that the vehicles had their lights off and were behaving suspiciously.

One surviving paramedic, Munther Abed, recounted being trapped inside a bullet-riddled ambulance. "I couldn't hear anything from my colleagues except the sound of death, the gasp of death, their last breath," he told CNN. "A cry of pain, that's all I heard from them."

After the incident, Israeli officials suggested the medics could have been militants disguised as emergency workers, a claim that PRCS and several international organisations strongly rejected. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it is reviewing the incident internally.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) condemned the killings, saying that paramedics and ambulances were protected under international humanitarian law. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that targeting health workers is a violation of international law and may constitute a war crime.

According to WHO, over 420 health workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023, with many attacks involving clearly marked medical facilities and transport.