7/2/02 Una mezza luna rossa, ma di sangue Si ritiene che un'ambulanza della Mezza Luna Rossa (la Croce Rossa araba) abbia portato la donna-kamikaze a Jerusalemme
Red Crescent ambulance believed to have brought woman bomber to Jerusalem
By Amos Harel
Wafa Idris, the Ramallah woman killed when a bomb she carried into downtown Jerusalem exploded last month, reached the capital by a Red Crescent ambulance, according to senior IDF officers.
One Israeli was killed and more than 100 wounded in the bombing. The investigation so far indicates she did not intend to deploy the bomb in a suicide attack, but may have been planning to pass it on to another person.
Idris was a volunteer in the Red Crescent society, part of an ambulance team that has treated hundreds of Palestinian casualties during the intifada. A senior security source said last night that according to information in his possession, the woman made her way from Ramallah to Jerusalem in an ambulance that passed through the Kalaniya checkpoint north of the capital.
Shin Bet officers say they have similar information, but have not yet been able to confirm it.
Red Crescent Spokesman Mohammed Iyad said last night the organization checked Israel's allegations, calling them "entirely incorrect."
He said that according to records, none of the group's ambulances were in Jerusalem on the day of the explosion. "And Wafa wasn't even working that day. She usually worked on Fridays," he added.
He said the IDF is "raising the accusation because of criticism of its behavior toward ambulances since the start of the intifada." According to Iyad, 68 Red Crescent ambulances have come under attack from the IDF leading to the death of a paramedic and injuries of 122 other workers.
The Red Crescent has also treated 39 Israeli casualties, Iyad said. "We will continue our work saving lives irrespective of the national identity of the victims."
The IDF is using the information to explain why it needs to examine ambulances at checkpoints. In two recent cases, the IDF has been charged that ambulance delays at checkpoints have cost lives. In both cases a baby died during childbirth because the soldiers at checkpoints did not allow ambulances to get through the Jenin area.
The IDF says its instructions to soldiers are to let ambulances through if they are carrying patients or if there is doubt. But the soldiers are also supposed to examine the ambulances before letting them through, since there are at least two cases in which wanted men were smuggled through checkpoints in ambulances. The soldiers at the checkpoints have to prevent harm to Palestinian patients as well as prevent terrorist attacks, said one officer last night.
