The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has been widely criticised for releasing a video in which footage of killed Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar has been edited in order to portray her as “not an angel”.
The 21-year-old was shot in the chest by an IDF sniper during protests on the Gaza-Israel border on 1 June as she attended wounded protesters.
On Thursday several Israeli government and army officials tweeted the video – named “Hamas’ use of human shields must stop” – which shows part of an interview Ms Najjar gave with Lebanese al Mayeen TV where she says she was acting as a “human shield”.
In the full clip, however, the young woman goes on to say she was present at the protests to “save the wounded at the front lines”. She does not mention Hamas, the militant group which controls the Gaza Strip.
Her death has become something of a rallying cry for Palestinians, who have named her “the Angel of Mercy”. In footage that has emerged since, she can be seen throwing a tear gas canister away from people lying on the ground.
“Razan al Najjar is not the angel of mercy that Hamas propaganda attempts to portray,” the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Edraee wrote on Twitter.
rtfa. That was never implied by either side.