Khaled Ayub

I am an ambulance driver and am in charge of Civil Defense ambulance drivers in the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, 1 March 2008, I was at Civil Defense headquarters in Jabalya. Around 2:00 A.M., an anonymous person called and begged for assistance, requesting that we come and evacuate injured persons in Jabel al-Kashef, east of Jabalya.

I drove there in a Toyota ambulance bearing the number 4450. With me were three paramedics: Mahmoud Suliman Zaqut, Muhammad Tareq Dardunah, and Jamal Diab a-Shami. The ambulance had all the markings of an emergency vehicle: red lights, shiny stickers, and a large, shiny symbol of the Red Crescent on its roof. I drove slowly because the road was not paved and it was hard to drive along. I didn't see any soldiers or tanks on the way.

Around 2:10, we reached Jabel al-Kashef. The siren and red lights were on. When we got to the place where the caller had said there were injured persons, I stopped the ambulance and two of the paramedics – Mahmoud Dardunah and Muhammad Zaqut – got out to look for them. They started to mount the hill (Jabel al-Kashef). When they were a several meters from the ambulance, a helicopter suddenly fired two missiles at them, one right after the other. Muhammad shouted that he had been hit, and crawled toward the ambulance. I picked him up and put him inside it. I shouted to Muhammad but he didn't respond. Then the helicopter fired a third missile at the area where they had stood.

Khaled Ayub with the ambulance he was driving and a picture of paramedic Mahmoud Zaqut, who was killed in the incident. Photo: Khaled al-‘Azaizeh, B'Tselem.

I got into the ambulance and drove Muhammad to hospital. On the way, I stopped opposite the Red Crescent headquarters on Zimo Street. There were a number of ambulances and teams there that were evacuating injured persons. I told them what had happened and asked them to search for Mahmoud, who was still in the field. When I got to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Mashru'  Beit Lahiya, I dropped Muhammad off and drove back to the scene of the incident. I heard sounds of shooting on the way but the ambulance wasn't hit. Further on, people along the way warned me not to go into the area, so I returned and reported what had happened to the Civil Defense officials in charge. They told me not to go into the dangerous area until they could arrange entry of an ambulance. A Civil Defense official contacted the Red Cross in Gaza City and gave them the relevant information. The Red Cross tried to coordinate entry of the ambulance with the Israeli side, but they didn't succeed.

On Monday morning, 3 March, the army left the area. Around 6:30 A.M., I returned to the area where the missiles were fired to look for Muhammad. I found his body, which was in a number of pieces. I managed to identify him by the special jacket that Civil Defense paramedics wear, a yellow, shiny jacket with the Red Crescent and Civil Defense symbol.

Khaled Hassan Ibrahim Ayub, 46, is married, has one child, and lives in Beit Lahiya, North Gaza Strip. The testimony was given to Khaled al-‘Azaizeh on 3 March 2008 at the Civil Defense Administration offices in Gaza City.