Gaza was repeatedly attacked by air, rescue forces struggled to save people

Gaza was repeatedly attacked by air, rescue forces struggled to save people 0

(Dan Tri) – Besides the fear of continuous air strikes, rescue forces in the Gaza Strip also face a shortage of medicine, medical equipment and depleted fuel sources.

A Palestinian woman mourns over the body of a relative killed in an air strike on Gaza (Photo: New York Times).

As Israel launched airstrikes on the Karama neighborhood in Gaza on the evening of October 10, medic Amir Ahmed and his ambulance team ran through streets lined with destroyed buildings and rushed toward the victims.

But when they got close, the explosions continued and no one could get any closer, the 32-year-old paramedic said.

The ground shook after each attack by Israeli warplanes.

But rescue forces like him are facing many difficulties, facing a shortage of medicine, medical equipment and depleted fuel sources.

Medical workers said they urgently needed bulldozers to pull more people out of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes amid widespread power outages.

Tel Aviv launched a wave of air strikes on Gaza after Hamas gunmen launched a surprise coordinated attack campaign against Israel on October 7.

Air strikes and intense bombardment target hospitals, schools and mosques, but Israeli officials say Hamas uses civilian buildings for military purposes.

Palestinian Red Crescent rescue workers said the air strikes turned Gaza into a `nightmare`.

Mr. Ahmed said that when his forces reached many destroyed buildings, they only found bodies.

On the afternoon of October 11, the entire power system in the Gaza Strip was shut down after the only power plant there closed, as Israel ordered a `full siege` of Gaza and blocked all electricity, food, and water.

Gaza authorities have warned that without electricity or fuel, hospitals and emergency services in the strip will not be able to operate.

Gaza was repeatedly attacked by air, rescue forces struggled to save people

Houses were destroyed after overnight Israeli air strikes in Khan Younes, southern Gaza Strip on October 11 (Photo: NYT).

`Without electricity, our hospitals will become mass graves,` Dr. Salima said.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 2,200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,100 others injured in Gaza since October 7.

Overnight on October 10, rescue workers in several neighborhoods struggled to dig people out of the rubble of crumbling concrete blocks and twisted metal.

Mr. Naseem Hassan, 47 years old, has been an ambulance driver in Gaza for 25 years, and said he has never experienced anything like this war.

`When we arrived at the affected places, we only brought the injured and dead outside the buildings, but could not dig up the injured and bodies under the rubble,` he said.

`Gaza is gradually being erased from the map`

Gaza, a small, densely populated enclave of more than 2 million people, has lived under a strict blockade imposed by Israel for 16 years.

Gaza was repeatedly attacked by air, rescue forces struggled to save people

Palestinians are searching for survivors and injured people in a house destroyed after an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younes (Photo: NYT).

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas but warned that the siege imposed by Israel violated international humanitarian law and would worsen the humanitarian situation.

Several times, Mr. Ahmed and other ambulance teams tried to reach areas that had been attacked but were subjected to air strikes, forcing them to turn back.

Since October 7, at least nine ambulances have been attacked in Gaza and 13 attacks on health care facilities have been reported, the United Nations said.

`A large number of people are trapped under the rubble for now,` said Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense Authority in Gaza, which manages emergency services.

Rescuers also said they could not keep up with the speed of the air strikes and their destruction.

Israeli military commanders said there was a `change in pattern` in their air strikes against Gaza.

The Israeli military warned Gazans to leave areas, in some cases entire districts or towns, they targeted.

But Gazans have nowhere to go.

Even those people were not immune from air strikes.

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