Refaat Radwan recorded his final mission and his own final breath.
He was filming from the 3rd ambulance on a convoy, including a fire truck. The fire truck was off to find a Palestinian Red Crescent Association (PRCS) ambulance that had lost contact with the base.
All vehicles on the fleet were clearly marked and emergency lights were flashing.
In the video, the crew sees a missing ambulance on the side of the road and tweets prayers for the safety of their colleagues.
The voice then goes, “They are scattered on the ground! Look, look!” And Rifuat escapes from the ambulance along with the other Medics, checking the collapsed aid workers.
Then the sound of bullets rings as Israeli soldiers shoot with a uniformed Medic that they were running to support the Medic they had already killed. Refaat was a hit.
In his final moments, he prayed and repeatedly called out to his mother to forgive him – choosing to pursue paramedic paths, causing harm to himself.
Israeli soldiers killed eight PRCS workers that night, as well as six workers from the Palestinian civil defense who had gone out on the same mission.
The ninth paramedic, Assaad al-Nassara, was captured.
This is Israel, a red crescent doctor, ambushed that day through the eyes of those who loved them.
Something quiet: Ashraf abu rabda
With his glasses and a serious look, Ashraf has always been a encouraging presence for his colleagues.
The 32-year-old Medic began volunteering at PRCS in 2021.
He quickly integrated into the PRCS community and made sure all of his colleagues were eating Iftar during Ramadan. He either cooks himself at the Red Crescent Center or brings some of his family’s food from home to share it.
In September 2023 he married, and a month later Israel began a massacre war with Gaza.
When he was killed he left his wife and their two-month-old baby girl, Weam.
Family Man: ezzeddin shaath
Ezedodine was 51 years old when Israeli soldiers killed him and his father killed six children.
The dedicated family man had a great sense of humor, but the war with Gaza stripped him of it as he gradually stopped laughing.
He joined PRCS in 2000, and four years later he married Nivine, who had four boys and two girls.
At work, he remained a kind of caregiver, making sure that his colleagues would rest at least a little each night and eat something.
His motto on rescue operations is: “If it’s written, we’ll take it back [from a mission]and if we don’t get it back, that’s our fate,” his colleague Ibrahim Abu al-Qas told Al Jazeera.
Miracle Worker: Mohamed Valor
Mohamed, 36, a seven-year veteran of Red Crescent, loved his work, as all his colleagues told you.
During the crisis he stayed at Red Crescent Center and went home once a week to meet his wife and six children.
His children ranged from three months to 11 years of age at the time Israel killed Mohamed. The bereaved and confused children cling to the idea that their father had died on humanitarian missions, making him a “martist.”
His colleagues remember him just because they were thinking things, Abu al-Qas said. If Mohamed has heard of a family member who is evacuated and in need of help, he will make it happen.
He himself was unable to use ambulances to move people’s belongings, so he sweetened his family and friends until he found transport and shelter for the evacuated people.
Rescuers: Mustafa Khafaga and Mohamed Al-Heila
Mustafa was 50 with his 15-year-old son, and Mohamed was 23-year-old single, but when they gathered, their attitude was legendary.
“One rainy day, the two were walking when they saw an elderly woman trying to cross the road, and it was too wet and slippery,” Abu al-Qas said.
“So they saw each other. And the other said: “Of course we!”
They went and got a chair, brought it to the woman, asked her to sit, lifted the chair, walked her carefully across the road, and glowed the whole time.
“They carried her like a bride,” continued Abu al-Qas. The overjoyed woman was laughing and cheering, he added, sending loving prayers after the two rescuers.
Photographer: Raed El-Sharif
Raad, 25, loved taking photos. Something stupid, something serious, something casual, something posed.
And he hoped that one day the world would see his image, and that he could communicate the suffering of his people through his work.
He began volunteering at PRCS in 2018 when he was 18 years old, during a massive march of re-protest.
Israel killed 214 protesters, including 46 children, and injured 36,100 people during these demonstrations, including nearly 8,800 children.
Raed, the youngest of the five brothers, was not married yet, but his family wanted him to marry after the war. But that didn’t happen.
Lead’s father tells of nine days of miserable waits to find out what happened to his youngest child, and fights to curb the certainty that he was executed along with his colleagues.
Good Grandson: Refaat Radwan
Rifat, 24, had a kind soul, Abu al-Qas told Al Jazeera.
“He especially made it to help the older women he met. If he sees a woman who is lined up to collect her medication from a hospital pharmacy, he asks her to sit down and get the medication for her.
“It seemed like when he helped them, these kind women were looking for the prayers that they would say for him.
Bold things: Saleh Muammar
Saleh, 42, loved help. And everyone agrees.
His brother Hussein told Al Jazeera that Saleh also loves his job and will soon return when he recovers from surgery in 2024.
Last February, Hussein explained that Sale had a mission to help the injured when he set the Medic on fire, despite being informed that Israeli forces were there.
Saleh was severely injured in his shoulder and chest and had to spend time in the hospital for surgery and recovery. He then went straight back to work.
That was his courage, Abu al-Qas commented. “He was dedicated to helping and wherever people were screaming for help, he said that’s what we should be.”
Missing – The Child Whisperer: Assaad al – Nassara
Assad showed endless patience by constantly negotiating with the children, Abu al-Qas said.
Whenever he saw the kids playing in the street, he would move around and deal with them, provide them with candy and go down the road to play somewhere safe.
The kids quickly understood him, and next time they played in the street again, laughing and saying, “We’ve fooled you!”
However, Assard didn’t bother him, simply continued to hand over the sweets.
His body was not found when an international mission went to search for missing paramedics.
Surviving witnesses say he was captured, tied up and taken away.
According to his son Mohamed, the 47-year-old father of six finally told the family he disappeared in the evening and he was on his way to have a coworker and iftar.
When they tried to call him during Suhore period, he did not respond and they learned that no one from headquarters could reach him or other emergency workers.
He always warned his family that every time he went out on a mission, he might not get it back, his son said. However, when Assaad continued his PRC rescue efforts, they were always trying to avoid thinking about it.
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