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Police trample, hospitalize sister of a hostage held in Gaza during protest

 
 Natali Zangauker, sister of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker arrives for a police investigation in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024. (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
Natali Zangauker, sister of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker arrives for a police investigation in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024.
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)

A doctor who went to treat Natali Zangauker's wounds was arrested.

A policeman trampled Natalie Zangauker, the younger sister of Gaza hostage Matan Zangauker, during the weekly protest for the release of the hostages at the Kirya Bridge.

In documentation published online, protesters can be heard shouting "shame" and "you'll end up in jail" at the policeman.

The 19-year-old Zangauker was transferred to Sourasky Medical Center, where she published a video saying: "Not even a police officer will stop me from protesting on behalf of Matan and the other hostages."

Three people were arrested at protests in Tel Aviv after blocking the road at the intersection between the intersection of Shaul Hamelech and Menachem Begin, Israel Police reported Saturday night. 

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According to the police, the protest organizers had been given approval under certain conditions to hold the protest at Kaplan Junction, which a group of protesters disobeyed. The police said the protesters moved towards Ayalon South, "risking human lives while the vehicles were moving at high speed on the road."

 Former hostage Ilana Gritzewesky with her partner Matan Zangauker, who remains in captivity in Gaza, June 22, 2024.  (credit: courtesy of the Hostage Families Forum)
Former hostage Ilana Gritzewesky with her partner Matan Zangauker, who remains in captivity in Gaza, June 22, 2024. (credit: courtesy of the Hostage Families Forum)

In May, Natalie was summoned for questioning following a tumultuous protest. After Natalie left the interrogation, her mother, Einav, spoke to crowds via megaphone, saying, "Unfortunately, not only is Hamas abusing us, the Israeli government is also abusing us. We are always willing to answer calls from the Israel Police, we are law-abiding citizens, but the police use unreasonable violence and force against us, the hostage families, and against citizens who fight alongside us for the return of the hostages."

Arrests of volunteer doctors at protests

Dr. Vladimir Tank, the deputy director of Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus's transplant department, who volunteered to help at the protest, was arrested at the protest when he tried to help Natalie with her wounds.


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Prof. Hagai Levin, medical director at the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, said, "[This was] a violent arrest of a person who has dedicated his whole life to saving lives. And this man is the 'enemy' of the Israel Police."

According to the photos, Dr. Tank can be seen being led to a car on his way to the Israel Police station. The Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus and the Israel Medical Association have not responded to the arrest yet.

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MK Naama Lazimi commented on the incident, saying, "Currently, the department director is abroad and if there is an emergency transplant, the deputy director is nowhere to be found! He is somewhere with the police but we don't know which station he is at. I appealed to the health minister and his chief of staff to act immediately regarding this issue. The police's decision has far-reaching consequences for the public's peace and health."

This is not the first incident in which a doctor providing first aid during a demonstration has been arrested. In June, Dr. Udi Baharav, a doctor providing first aid to an injured woman at a demonstration while wearing a high-visability doctor's vest, was arrested by Israeli police. 

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