Video of Insurgents in Gaza and Ambulance

[On the Road]

DUers as a community have a remarkable range of information and perspective. Wondering what people make of this clip and what the background is. It appears to show street fighters in Gaza loading into a UN ambulance as using it as means of transport.

Someone posted this on a New York Giants site, so I'm not sure of the context, the source or the exact politics involved. Please no flames as a supporter of the Israeli occupation -- I've been extremely critical of Israel here. Just want to understand the whole picture of what's going on over there.

http://tinyurl.com/np87e

[wtmusic]

1. Hard to tell nt

[Poll_Blind]

2. Looks like two men flanking a third, wounded man, and helping...

...him into the ambulance. Two other men, also fighters, hop in an on the ambulance though only the initial man helped into the ambulance appears wounded. For a fighter, especially the poorly-trained variety which comprise most of the armed Palestinian militants, to hop into an ambulance carrying wounded to get away from the firefight they're losing is not terribly surprising.

This is far from a convincing portrayal as ambulances as intentional troop carriers, though.

PB

[On the Road]

3. Ah, Yes, I Didn't Notice The Casualty the First Time

I was focusing on the last two people to jump on the back of the ambulance. The first three are legitimate, since it would be normal for someone to accompany the wounded person to the hospital.

There's also the question of how these ambulances are supposed to operate. It would make sense that they would have to be near Hamas fighters in order to do their job. There may be no 911 dispatch. In practice, they would have to have a working relationship with the people they're serving and be aware of where street fights are taking place. And what are the ambulance drivers going to do if two other armed guerrillas jump on the back -- stop and tell them they have to get off?

In that context, the actions of all parties make sense. The UN is doing its job of transporting the wounded. The guerrillas are using the UN to transport their wounded, and in the process occasionally hopping on the back to flee Israeli fire. That may not be legitimate, but the video shows how natural it is in context. The Israelis, on the other hand, see this happening and draw the conclusion that the UN is allied with and providing support for Hamas. Their attack of the UN and the ambulance in Lebanon, while unmistakably a war crime, probably grows out of this perception.

[revolve]

4. My question is

Does the U.N. provide this same service to the Israelis?

[On the Road]

5. I Don't Think the Israelis Want or Need It

so it's a moot question. I think the UN is doing what it should, but it also feeds the Israeli perception of the UN being on the side of Hamas.

[revolve]

6. I disagree that the U.N. should evacuate fighters

I think that the U.N. should be solely concerned with civilians

[On the Road]

10. Maybe It Isn't Legitimate for the Ambulance to be Doing This

Does anyone know what the agreement is with the UN?

[Poll_Blind]

8. The U.N. does not have peacekeepers inside Israel.

PB

[On the Road]

9. Does That Include Gaza?

Would it mean that this clip is not depicting Gaza or that these are not UN ambulances? It could be something else for all I know.

[Poll_Blind]

11. Gaza/West Bank are not Israeli lands, so no.

PB

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Fill out the IDF After Action Report

[Igel]

12. IDF says Zeintun neighborhood in Gaza.

http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=31540.EN

Claims it aired on Israeli TV channel 10.

A bigger concern is why the UN ambulance was sitting there: It's unclear that they're responding to fire, or precede it.

I'm unconvinced that I like having the UN ambulance on call for evacuating combatants that are wounded. On the other hand, they usually hire locals, and its been widely reported, if poorly documented, that militants having frequently applied for, and gotten, jobs with the UN. So it may not be UN non-neutrality, but UN-employee non-neutrality.

[On the Road]

13. Oh, I See...

I had pictured those ambulances being driven by a blue helmet from Bolivia or Thailand, and couldn't understand why they would be collaborating with insurgents. I was wondering if the ambulance were fake, stolen, or carjacked.

But if the UN hires locally, what do they expect? Of course a certain number of local hires are going to collaborate with Hamas.


Thank you. This is the kind of insight I was hoping to gain by posting the link.