[TomGuy]

Some related news articles from difference sources around May 11, 2004:

UN Objects to Palestinian Hijacking of Ambulances

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, May 13, 2004

The UN’s dedicated Palestinian relief agency, UNWRA has fiercely objected to the use of its ambulances by armed Palestinian combatants.

The UN complaint came after several gunmen threatened the lives of an UNRWA ambulance crew on Tuesday and forced them to drive to a nearby Gaza City hospital in the midst of intense running gun-battles with IDF troops.

According to the army, the past three-and-a-half years has witnessed a growing trend in the cynical use of Palestinian ambulances by terrorist organizations operating within populated civilian areas.

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UN Ambulance Caught Red-Handed
23:18 May 16, '04 / 25 Iyar 5764

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced today (Sunday) that UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) ambulances were used to steal and transport body parts of Israeli soldiers killed in last Wednesday’s bomb attack on the Philadelphi route in southern Gaza. The senior minister called upon UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan to address the disturbing phenomenon.

At today’s cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that the UN ambulance, which had also been used to transport terrorists, had been captured by security forces near the Philadelphi area. He said that only after intense diplomatic pressure did UNRWA announce that it would conduct an internal investigation into the matter. He issued a call to UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan as well, urging him to conduct an external audit examining the extent of the involvement of the UN aid program with terrorism.

It was initially reported, following a press conference by the Gaza division commander Brigadier-General Shmuel Zakai, that Israel had documented evidence showing Palestinian terrorists using ambulances disguised as United Nations vehicles. Following the capture of the vehicles used, it became clear that they were genuine UN vehicles.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was aware of the allegations made through the media by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. "Both he and the Commissioner-General of [the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA)] take such accusations very seriously," he said.

UNRWA issued a statement claiming armed terrorists threatened the lives of an UNWRA ambulance team and forced them to transport an injured gunman and two of his armed colleagues to a hospital in Gaza City last week.

In the October 2000 abduction of three soldiers from the northern border, Hizbullah also used UN vehicles to kidnap the soldiers who were all killed.

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UN Denies Gunmen Used Ambulances to Carry Israel Remains

Wed May 26, 2004 05:09 AM ET

GAZA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday denied Israeli accusations that Palestinian militants used U.N. ambulances to spirit away the remains of Israeli soldiers killed during a Gaza Strip raid this month.

Peter Hansen, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, said in a statement he had demanded an apology from Israel's defense minister for what he called "damaging and baseless allegations."

UN Denies Gunmen Used Ambulances to Carry Israel Remains - continued

[TomGuy]

Last Update: 26/05/2004 00:41
Police: Ambulance network smuggled PA officers into Israel
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Police have uncovered a network that smuggled Palestinian Authority officers, including members of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 personal protection unit, into Israel in fake ambulances.
Police said it is possible the ring has also smuggled terrorists into Israel using the same method. Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat called the accusations "another attempt to undermine the Palestinian Red Cross and Red Crescent" and noted that Israel stops and thoroughly checks every ambulance that goes through a checkpoint. "I don't know why such accusations are being leveled at this time, when they are not even allowing patients to reach medical institutions," Erekat said. Ma'aleh Adumim police recently arrested a man suspected of posing as an ambulance driver and illegally bringing into Israel dozens of Palestinians disguised as sick patients. The man, who holds Israeli citizenship, is a resident of Azzariyeh, a Palestinian village just east of Jerusalem. Police said additional arrests are expected. The "patients" were hooked up to medical devices inside the ambulances and presented soldiers or police officers with forged documents at Israeli checkpoints. Police believe that in one case, the Force 17 commander was smuggled from Azzariyeh into Israeli territory for a work meeting in East Jerusalem. The arrested man was employed by an ambulance company controlled by Force 17 that operates three ambulances. A police probe revealed the detainee does not hold an ambulance driver's license and that the license plates of his vehicle were forged. The vehicle itself was likely stolen. Police recently raided an Azzariyeh warehouse in which commercial vehicles were transformed into ambulances.