IDF releases Palestinian medic month after deadly attack on ambulances.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

30 minutes ago

There had previously been no news about Asaad Al-Nsasrah's whereabouts or condition. (Supplied: Palestinian Red Crescent Society)

In short:

Israel has released a Palestinian paramedic detained after IDF solders fired on a convoy of ambulance and emergency vehicles he was travelling.

He was one of only two survivors of the attack, which Israel described as a result of operational failures.

Israel has previously blamed "night visibility" for the attack on the convoy, which led to the deaths of 15 Palestinian emergency workers.

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A Palestinian paramedic arrested after he and his colleagues were attacked by Israeli forces in southern Gaza has been released after more than a month in detention.

There were grave fears for Asaad Al-Nsasrah's wellbeing after the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said he was "forcibly abducted" by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 23.

There had been no news about his whereabouts or condition in the weeks since. But on Tuesday afternoon, local time, the PRCS revealed he had been freed.

Asaad Al-Nsasrah is one of only two survivors of an Israeli military attack on a number of ambulances, a fire truck and a UN vehicle near Tel al-Sultan.

An Israeli inquiry blames the killing of Palestinian medics on "poor night visibility".

Fifteen people were killed in the attack: eight PRCS paramedics, six members of Gaza's civil defence service and one UN staffer.

It is not yet clear where Al-Nsasrah was held and under what circumstances.

An internal IDF investigation found "poor night visibility" was a factor in troops wrongfully opening fire on the vehicles, despite video evidence clearly showing ambulances travelling with red flashing emergency lights on display.

The video showed the paramedics and emergency responders rushing to the scene of an ambulance that had been run off the road and being met with a barrage of gunfire once they arrived.

The operation to retrieve the remains of 15 Palestinian medics took a week, according to the United Nations. (Supplied: United Nations/OCHA)

The bodies of the slain emergency workers were buried in a shallow grave alongside the wreckage of their crushed vehicles, which were uncovered a week later once the United Nations and PRCS could gain access to the site.

The IDF has expressed regret about its soldiers targeting civilians, but insisted six Hamas fighters were killed in the attack.

It has only named one, and has provided no evidence about the identities of the others.

The PRCS has rejected the findings of the IDF inquiry, describing it as full of "lies" and contradictory statements.

The organisation has demanded a totally independent international inquiry outside the IDF's chain of command.

The only other survivor of the attack, paramedic Munther Abed, said he was dragged from the wreckage of his vehicle by Israeli forces and blindfolded before being interrogated by the IDF for 15 hours.