IDF Detained Ambulance Team During Duvdevan Undercover Operation

B'Tselem's interim findings from its inquiry into the operation of the Duvdevan undercover unit in Asira A-Shmaliah village on the night between August 26-27:

Testimonies collected by B'Tselem indicate that IDF soldiers arrested and detained an ambulance team of the Red Crescent, which was called to the area. Two of the ambulance personnel, Jamal Abu-Hamadi and Said El-'Aker, were detained by IDF soldiers, who ordered them out of the ambulance and bound their wrists with handcuffs. The ambulance bore clear identification - flashing lights and Red Crescent emblems - and the two personnel wore appropriate uniforms and badges. The two men were held in an adjacent building, their wrists tied with handcuffs, for over seven hours, and were only released at 7:00 a.m, the next morning. During the whole period of their detention, they were not allowed to use a toilet or to drink.

According to international humanitarian law, medical personnel bearing the appropriate identification are entitled to protection under all circumstances, and are not to be hindered. They are to be permitted access to any place requiring their services and are to be provided with any assistance they may require.

During the Duvdevan operation, the IDF destroyed the house of Nidal Dughlas, aged 38, his wife and their five children. The house was destroyed along with its contents, without allowing anyone to remove anything from the house prior to its destruction. It appears that the destruction was carried out as a punitive measure. House demolition as a punitive measure, carried out in accordance with Defense (Emergency) Regulation 119 requires giving the home owner a right of appeal prior to the demolition as well as the right to petition the High Court of Justice.