... of Gaza medic

The U.N. envoy for the Middle East wrote in a tweet that “Medical workers are #NotATarget!” and that “Israel needs to calibrate its use of force."

Thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral procession of Razan Najjar, the Palestinian medic who was killed while trying to save an injured protester at the Gaza-Israel border during a demonstration Friday.

Various U.N. officials issued statements Saturday condemning Najjar's killing. “The killing of a clearly identified medical staffer by security forces during a demonstration is particularly reprehensible,” said Jamie McGoldrick, the local U.N. humanitarian coordinator. 

Addressing the issue, the U.N. envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, took to social media Saturday and wrote in a tweet that “Medical workers are #NotATarget!” and that “Israel needs to calibrate its use of force." 

The Palestinian Medical Relief Society, PMRC, said Najjar was shot "as she was attempting to provide first aid to an injured protester," with three other first responders who were also hit by live fire on Friday. The Khan Younis hospital stated Najjar had a gunshot wound in the chest with an exit wound in the back.   

"Shooting at medical personnel is a war crime under the Geneva conventions,” the PMRC noted in a statement. And demanded "an immediate international response to Israeli humanitarian law violations in Gaza."

The funeral procession for 21-year-old Najjar departed from her hometown of Khuza'a and will conclude in a cemetery in Khan Yunis, according to Haaretz. Najjar’s body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag as the funeral procession started from the hospital and passed near her home in Khuzaa, a village near the Khan Younis that is close to the border and has served as one of five protest encampments across Gaza in recent weeks.  

Dozens of mourners also went to the fence after the funeral and pelted stones at Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border. "I want the world to hear my voice … what’s my daughter’s fault?" asked her mother Sabreen, dressed in black and seated on a mattress in her living room. “She will leave a large emptiness at home." 

Al-Mezan, a Gaza-based rights group, said Najjar was 100 meters from the fence and wearing a clearly marked paramedic’s vest when she was shot.

She was one of the few female medics responding to medical emergencies during the protests. "We have one goal — to save lives and evacuate people," she said during an interview with the New York Times last month. "And to send a message to the world: Without weapons, we can do anything. najjar said she was pround of being a one of teh few female medics and that such a job is not only for men but also for women. 

The Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Jawad Awaad also equated Najjar being killed as "a war crime."  A total of 115 people have been killed by the Israeli forces since the peaceful protests first began at the Gaza border in March.