AVH Ambulance Responds to Violence

on the Haram Ash-Sharif

On February 27, 2004 at approximately 13:00, AVH medics were called to respond to violence that had erupted near the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Haram Ash-Sherif/Temple Mount. Upon arriving at the St. Stephen's Gate, the ambulance was denied entrance by Israeli Police who were stationed there. The ambulance crew waited while a man with multiple lacerations to his head, chest, and arms was brought out. They rushed him back to the hospital, where he was treated for shrapnel wounds, chest trauma, and tear-gas inhalation.

Subsequently, the medics returned to the area, and they were again denied entrance. A man was brought to them in a wheelchair. He was taken to AVH where he was treated for trauma to the elbow and chest, tear-gas inhalation, and chest pains. The man with shrapnel wounds was hit by a sound bomb, which exploded directly in front of him.

Both patients say that they were assaulted as they left noon prayers and that they did not see anyone throwing stones before the Israeli forces attacked.

The nearby Al-Maqassed Hospital reports treating three people who were injured during the violence on the Haram Ash-Sherif.