International Courant
When Hamas unleashed its assault on hundreds of Jews attending a music competition in southern Israel earlier this month, an Israeli Arab paramedic insisted on staying on the scene to attempt to save lives.
Lastly he gave his.
Awad Darawshe was 23, single, good-looking, however he wasn’t on the Tribe of Nova competition to bounce. He labored for Yossi Ambulances and was a part of a workforce of paramedics who needed to work the competition in a tent on the sting of the positioning.
He was killed when Hamas militants sneaked into Israel from the Gaza Strip undetected and pushed their manner by means of the competition crowds into close by villages, settlements and kibbutzim.
Shortly after daybreak on October 7, rockets pierced the sky. Grenades went off. Gunfire bounced in every single place. Injured, bleeding partygoers ran to the paramedics station. However the chaos rapidly escalated. As the dimensions of the Hamas assault turned clear, the station chief ordered the paramedics to evacuate.
Darawshe refused to go away. He was shot lifeless whereas bandaging one of many wounded.
Days later, after his physique was recognized, surviving paramedics advised Darawshe’s household why he had chosen to remain. He felt that as an Arab he might by some means mediate with the attackers.
“He mentioned, ‘No, I am not leaving. I converse Arabic, I believe I can deal with it,” mentioned his cousin, Mohammad Darawshe, who spoke to The Related Press by telephone from his dwelling in northern Israel.
That fateful determination left the Darawshe household reeling with grief; their solely comfort is the braveness of Awad’s actions.
“He introduced us loads of ache, he introduced us loads of ache, he introduced us loads of unhappiness,” his cousin mentioned. “However he additionally introduced us loads of satisfaction – as a result of he selected to stay together with his mission till the final second.”
A funeral was held Friday in Iksal, a small village with an Arab majority about 5 kilometers southeast of Nazareth. A number of thousand mourners have been current.
The Darawshe household has lived in Iksal for generations. They’re a part of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel, which makes up about 20% of the inhabitants. They’re the descendants of Palestinians who stayed within the nation after the 1948 warfare surrounding the creation of Israel. In contrast to Palestinians dwelling within the occupied West Financial institution and Gaza, they’re full residents of Israel however face widespread discrimination. Tensions between them and Jewish Israelis flare repeatedly, particularly in occasions of warfare.
At the very least 260 Israelis have been killed within the competition assault and an unspecified quantity have been taken hostage. Greater than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in Hamas’ brutal assault on Saturday, the worst bloodbath within the nation’s historical past. Israel declared warfare on Hamas the following day. Since Sunday, the battle has additionally killed greater than 2,300 Palestinians and left the Center East getting ready to a wider conflagration.
Darawshe’s demise was confirmed by Israel’s Overseas Ministry in social media posts, which mentioned that Hamas not solely killed Darawshe, but in addition stole his ambulance and drove it to Gaza.
“A hero,” the Overseas Ministry mentioned of Darawshe. “Might his reminiscence be a blessing.”
Mohammad Darawshe is director of technique on the Givat Haviva Middle for Shared Society, a corporation working to bridge the divide between Israel’s Jewish and Arab residents – the Darawshe household ethos for which Awad made the last word sacrifice.
“We’re very happy with his actions,” mentioned Mohammad Darawshe. “That is what we anticipate from him and what we anticipate from everybody in our household: to be human, keep human and die human.”
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Sampson reported from Atlanta.
An Arab paramedic who handled Israelis injured by Hamas militants is being remembered as a hero
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