In Gaza the road to the injured has become longer than usual

The danger in the Gaza Strip is no longer limited to bombing; it now extends to the collapse of dilapidated buildings and walls that trap displaced people in their shelters. Meanwhile, the ability of civil defense teams to respond to emergencies is diminishing due to the destruction of most of their equipment.

In one of the displacement camps in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, a wall collapsed onto tents sheltering Palestinian families who lost their homes. This resulted in injuries to a number of displaced people, some of them critical, in an incident that highlights the precariousness of the shelters where thousands of Palestinians are living.

Raed al-Dahshan, the director of civil defense in Gaza Governorate, explained that the department is currently operating at no more than 15% of its capacity, after the war destroyed approximately 85% of its resources. This has severely limited its ability to carry out rescue and relief operations. In the same vein, Bashar Muhaysen, from the Civil Society Organizations Alliance in Gaza, stated that restrictions on the entry of basic necessities have exacerbated the crisis facing service institutions. He asserted that Israel has employed various tactics throughout the war to complicate daily life in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian estimates indicate that the operational readiness of civil defense vehicles has plummeted to approximately 10%, following the decommissioning of a significant number of vehicles and equipment. This significantly increases the risks faced by the population and makes responding to incidents even more challenging amidst the ongoing war and deteriorating humanitarian conditions.