| schema:text
| - Fact Check: This is NOT a recent video of Israeli forces stopping ambulance from entering Gaza
India Today found that this video shows a 2019 incident when Israeli soldiers stopped an ambulance during a protest in Ramallah.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
This video is from 2019 when Israeli forces stopped an ambulance during protests in the Beit Sira town of Ramallah.
A video of two uniformed men pointing a gun towards people sitting in an ambulance and yelling at them has gone viral on social media. Allegedly, these were Israeli soldiers stopping paramedics from entering Gaza. The English subtitles of the video read, “Hand over the keys, hand them over.”
“Israeli forces detain paramedics at gunpoint preventing them from saving lives in Gaza,” read posts on Facebook and X alongside the video.
India Today found that this video is from 2019 when Israeli soldiers had stopped an ambulance during a protest in Ramallah.
Our Probe
Using reverse search, we found a photo very similar to the visuals in the viral clip, published in the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu. Reportedly, Palestinians gathered near Beit Sira in Ramallah (which is in the West Bank) and held a demonstration. Israeli forces intervened in the demonstration and stopped an ambulance in the area. The image was credited to photographer Issam Rimawi.
We found that Rimawi had shared multiple images of the incident in question on Facebook on March 8, 2019. He wrote in Arabic, “ The occupation soldiers detain a Red Crescent ambulance and its crew during their coverage of confrontations in Beit Sierra West, despite God.”
B'Tselem, a Jerusalem-based nonprofit that documents human rights violations in Palestinian territories, published a detailed report about this incident on March 25, 2019.
According to the report, on March 8, 2019, around 200 people were protesting in Beit Sira, Ramallah, against the killing of two Palestinians, Amir Dar Daraj and Yusef Anqawi. The demonstrators were demanding the Israeli army release their bodies. There were clashes between the Israeli forces and the protestors, following which ambulances were called.
When the paramedics found themselves caught between protesters and soldiers, who continued to fire rubber-coated metal bullets and teargas canisters, the ambulance driver reportedly sought to drive away from that spot. However, as soon as the ambulance started moving, an officer ordered the driver at gunpoint to turn off the engine and hand over the keys. They were forced to wait there for about 15 minutes until the soldiers moved away.
We also reached out to Anadolu photographer Issam Rimawi, who told India Today that this incident was indeed from 2019 and he was present when it happened. “The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was stopped for over 15 minutes. They (Israeli Forces) threatened the driver and searched the vehicle to look for certain injured Palestinians. They also asked us, the journalists, to leave,” he added.
Thus, it’s clear that a 2019 video is being shared in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)