Residents had to dig through rubble in search of their neighbors after the main emergency service in Gaza said it had stopped operations in the north because it had come under Israeli attacks.
When an Israeli airstrike hit a home in northern Gaza early Thursday, residents said, there were no paramedics or emergency medical workers around to help pull out people trapped in the rubble.
Instead, Mazen Ahmed said he and other neighbors in Beit Lahia had to dig through the debris by themselves. They found at least one body.
“We went out to try to rescue on our own to the extent of our abilities,” Mr. Ahmed said on Thursday, speaking by voice message from a cemetery where those killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes were being buried. “There were no stretchers, there were no rescuers, there were no emergency responders.”
More than two weeks ago, Gaza’s Civil Defense, the main emergency service in the Palestinian territory, said it was forced to cease rescue operations in the north because of attacks by the Israeli military on its members and destruction of its equipment.
Always gotta fix the headlines from imperial news:
Gazan Rescue Service
Has Stopped Operating in the Northwas forced to cease rescue operations in the north because of attacks by the Israeli military on its members
