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 first responders 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.
Israel stepped up a military offensive in northern Gaza over the last month and ordered widespread evacuations of the area, saying it was trying to eliminate a regrouped Hamas presence there. Troops, tanks and armed drones have bombarded the area almost daily, sending tens of thousands of residents fleeing.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said it was operating against what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Beit Lahia, an agricultural and residential area on the Israeli border where the Israeli military has been fighting for the last four weeks.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
