First responders have been forced to completely halt operations in north Gaza, officials have announced, as Palestinians say that there is nothing left but death in the region as a result of Israel’s horrific siege.
The Gaza Civil Defense agency, the government’s first responders, said that recent Israeli attacks on its workers have forced it to suspend its operations in the north. In a statement, the agency said that three of its members were wounded by Israeli forces who fired on them in Beit Lahiya, while another five were detained by Israeli forces at Indonesian Hospital.
“As a result, we declare that Civil Defence operations in the northern Gaza Strip have been completely halted, leaving these areas without any firefighting, rescue, or emergency medical services,” the group said.
The ending of government-run emergency services compounds upon an already harrowing situation in Gaza where all services that support life are either shut down or under threat, three weeks into Israel’s escalated siege.
Israel’s aid blockade has created shortages of food, water and medical supplies, along with a lack of fuel that is forcing vital services like ambulances to suspend operations. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said that it can no longer operate ambulances due to fuel shortages.
“No food, no water, no civil defence teams, no ambulances, no paramedics,” reported Hind Khoudary for Al Jazeera. Khoudary noted that Israeli forces have been “putting numbers on men” in north Gaza and invading every home and shelter to round people up.
“They’re putting numbers on people and interrogating them. Israel has also been digging holes and putting people inside those holes and grouping them into 10,” Khoudary said. Others have reported that Israeli soldiers have been kidnapping children from their mothers, putting them in holes, and then circling them with tanks until their bones break.
Al Jazeera’s Hossam Shabat, who Israeli forces publicly placed on a hitlist on Wednesday, has reported that water pumps and desalination plants have stopped operation due to the fuel shortages.
Advocates for Palestinian rights say it is clear that Israel is carrying out a campaign to ethnically cleanse and occupy north Gaza through a combination of mass killing, manufactured starvation, and forced displacement. Many have noted that the campaign has striking similarities to the “Generals’ Plan,” an Israeli military proposal to force Palestinians out of the entirety of north Gaza — formerly home to the largest city in the Strip, Gaza City — and treat anyone left as a combatant who can be slaughtered with impunity.
Part of this campaign has been a concerted assault of the only three hospitals left partially operational in the region. Israel has been targeting Kamal Adwan directly with tanks and firearms after leveling buildings in the surrounding area and blocking all entry points.
In recent days, the hospital has faced a “catastrophic” shortage of supplies and has essentially lost its ability to treat people, according to the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh. Safiyeh has said that the hospital will become “a mass grave” without intervention.
“There is death in all types and forms in Kamal Adwan Hospital and North Gaza. The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop.”
Reports of Israel’s assault in Jabalia refugee camp have been especially heinous. According to Middle East Eye, troops are going from shelter to shelter to round up and remove people. Israeli soldiers separate men and women, interrogating the men while forcing the women and children to flee to the south, threatening them with bombardment and gunfire on the way. As of Thursday, at least half of the camp has been ethnically cleansed, the outlet reported.
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