Residents of northern Gaza reported that following an Israeli airstrike on a home early Thursday, there were no paramedics or first responders available to assist those trapped under the debris.
Mazen Ahmed, who has been displaced to Beit Lahia, where the strike occurred, along with other neighbors, undertook the effort to dig through the rubble themselves. They recovered at least one body during their search. “We went out to try and rescue on our own to the extent of our abilities,” he stated via voice message from a cemetery where victims of the recent airstrikes were being buried. “There were no stretchers, there were no rescuers, there were no emergency responders.”
The Gaza civil defense, the primary emergency service in the region, announced over two weeks ago that it had to suspend rescue operations in the northern area due to attacks on its personnel and destruction of its equipment by the Israeli military.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, many Palestinians have been killed in the past month as Israel intensified military operations in northern Gaza, citing efforts to dismantle a regrouped Hamas presence and issuing evacuation orders for residents.
In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli military indicated that its operations in Beit Lahia were aimed at what it described as terrorist infrastructure, although it did not address reports regarding the airstrike on the residential building.
In the absence of organized rescue efforts, civilians in northern Gaza have taken it upon themselves to assist those in need, often transporting the injured to one of the few functioning hospitals in the area using private vehicles or donkey carts. “We civilians brought planks of wood, doors, and shelves, and we would put the injured on them and every four or six people would take them to the hospital,” Mr. Ahmed explained.
He reported that while they managed to rescue six individuals, at least one person they extracted from the rubble was already dead.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Friday characterized the dire situation in northern Gaza, noting that injured individuals are frequently transported by animal carts or carried on foot, leading to delays in medical care and an increase in fatalities. Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, conveyed these concerns.
A joint statement issued last week by the leaders of 15 United Nations agencies, including UNICEF and the World Food Program, urged Israel to halt its military actions in Gaza and to protect humanitarian workers. The statement highlighted that “Rescue teams have been deliberately attacked and thwarted in their attempts to pull people buried under the rubble of their homes.”
The Israeli military did not provide an immediate response regarding the claims of intentionally targeting first responders.