THE COMMUNITY Camp4Palestine opposite the US embassy in Battersea on Tuesday night hosted an event to honour paramedics in Gaza.
Opening the proceedings, Elina, a surgeon in London and City and a leader of London Healthworkers 4 Palestine said: ‘Today, on International Paramedics Day we celebrate the ways international paramedics in conflict zones unite to serve our communities:
‘Our colleagues are stopped at checkpoints, denied access, deprived of the most basic supplies like gloves, oxygen, and stretchers — while responding to mass casualty incidents.
‘Yet our colleagues are failed by the profession’s silence, by the world’s selective advocacy, and by the failure to uphold international humanitarian law.
‘Our colleagues cannot relieve pain or offer comfort, cannot provide silence or privacy, and cannot uphold the rites and rituals of the dying.
‘In our own careers, we may attend the death of a child once — maybe twice — and it stays with us for a lifetime. A mass casualty incident may be a once-in-a-career event. We are rightly reassured: “It’s okay not to be okay.”
‘We are offered debriefings, mental health support, time to process the weight of what we’ve seen.
‘But our colleagues — particularly in Gaza — have endured these scenes not once, not twice, but daily, for twenty-one months. Day after day, child after child, massacre after massacre — without respite, without counselling, without pause. And still, they continue to show up in unity and community, in unimaginable circumstances.
‘In Palestine: 50 Red Crescent medics have been killed in targeted attacks by Israeli forces.
‘96 ambulances have been destroyed in targeted attacks by Israeli forces.
‘Over 1,580 healthcare workers have been killed in targeted attacks by Israeli forces.
‘406 healthcare workers have been detained — six tortured to death.
‘36 hospitals have been completely destroyed.
‘The silence and censorship of professional healthcare institutions who fail to speak up against the deliberate and systematic targeting of healthcare workers has allowed the normalisation of such attacks.
‘We remember the Tel al-Sultan massacre, where 15 medics and first responders were ordered out of clearly marked ambulances and emergency vehicles — uniforms on, emergency lights flashing — before being executed and buried in the sand, alongside their destroyed vehicles.’
Posters with some information about those paramedics who were killed were held up and read to the crowd.
Aisha, representing the CC4Pal camp, spoke about the work of the camp which maintains a 24-hour presence opposite the US embassy.
Elena introduced Dr James Smith: ‘He has been to Gaza and worked with the killed paramedics in Gaza.’
He said: ‘I worked for 5-6 weeks with ambulance workers in al Mawazi and they were the best, bravest people I have had the privilege of working with.
‘They see the work they do as a form of resistance.
‘Today, a lone paramedic was killed in his tent in al Mawasi.
‘There is no job in the world more dangerous than being a paramedic in Gaza.’
Elena then introduced her friend and colleague from HW4P, Rihab Adel, who spoke passionately about the life of paramedics in Gaza.
‘I’m not here as an expert. I’m not here as a politician.
‘I’m here as a human being.
‘Because what’s happening to paramedics in Gaza isn’t just a tragedy — it’s a betrayal. A betrayal of everything we claim to stand for as a global community.
‘These are people who show up in the darkest moments — when bombs fall, when screams echo through the streets.
‘People like Bara’a Afana, who ran toward a bombing in al-Tuffah to rescue the wounded. Moments later, a second airstrike killed him and his team. They were unarmed. In uniform. Medics. Targeted.
‘International law is clear: Medical workers must be protected. Ambulances must be protected.
‘Yet we’ve seen the verified footage: Israeli forces targeting clearly marked ambulances.
‘Medics executed – hands tied – beside their destroyed vehicles. Ambulances used as decoys in raids.
‘These aren’t accidents. They are violations – of law, of humanity, of life.
‘The paramedics we honour today were not statistics. They had names, families, dreams.
‘Hamdan – whose story I carry in my heart.
‘Hamdan Hassan Annaba was a Palestinian paramedic from Khan Younis.
‘A father of six – four girls, two boys. The beloved brother of my dear friend, Rana. Hamdan dedicated his life to saving others. He worked at Nasser Hospital. When bombs rained down, he stayed.
‘He didn’t go home. He refused to rest. He remained, day and night – committed to his mission.
‘When the Israeli military ordered patients out of Al-Shifa Hospital, Hamdan volunteered with the Red Cross to transfer them.
‘Twice, he made the journey. Twice, he was beaten and humiliated by Israeli forces. The second time – they stripped him, tortured him, and disappeared him.
‘For a year, his family heard nothing. They searched. They begged. Then came the truth: Hamdan was tortured to death in an Israeli prison.
‘His body was never returned. His children have no grave. Rana has no brother to bury. Even in death, this occupation seeks to erase. Even grief is punished. But we will not forget.
‘We are holding Hamdan’s family close. We are making sure his niece, Rama, receives the best possible care here in the UK – privately funded, because this government refuses to take responsibility for the devastation it helped create.
‘If we believe in justice and dignity – then we must demand accountability. And as we honour courage, we must call out cowardice.
‘This government — and Keir Starmer’s Labour – aren’t just silent. They are complicit. They say there’s no money for the NHS, for disabled people, for our communities – yet they hand £330 million to Palantir, a company supplying tech to the Israeli military, now granted access to NHS data.
‘They talk about justice – so long as the victims aren’t Palestinian. Echoing the US, where billions in military aid, UN vetoes, and endless political cover have made this genocide possible.
‘We see through the spin. The arms deals.The bans on protest. The smears against anyone who dares to speak the truth.
‘Keir Starmer doesn’t speak for us. Not for nurses. Not for teachers. Not for medics. Not for anyone who believes in life and dignity. We say: Not in our name. Free Palestine.’
Also addressing the meeting, emergency services worker, Sacha Ismail, a member of Unison and Unite, read out the names of the Paramedics who were the killed by Israeli forces at Tel al-Sultan.
He said: ‘We will stand against the targeting of emergency service workers and continue until the perpetrators face justice.’
