Gaza, Oct 24 (IANS) The Civil Defence Authority in Gaza has reported that its three members were injured when Israeli drones “directly” targeted its teams in the northern Gaza Strip.
It described in a brief statement on Wednesday that the “direct Israeli shelling” as “a serious incident aimed at disrupting humanitarian services in the northern region”.
The statement added that the attack occurred after Civil Defence workers were ordered to abandon all their vehicles and equipment and move to the Sheikh Zayed area in northern Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.
The statement called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations to intervene immediately to protect the Civil Defence teams that maintain their mission of providing services to the residents of northern Gaza despite challenges.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage.
The Israeli army besieged and detained displaced Gazans present in the Sheikh Zayed area, the group noted.
The civil defence urged humanitarian organisations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to employ “immediate intervention before it’s too late to save the crews who have not abandoned their work in providing services to our people in the governorate”.
The Israeli army has intensified a massive assault in northern Gaza amid a suffocating siege that has left tens of thousands of people without food and water.
The onslaught, which began October 5, is the latest episode in Israel’s brutal offensive that has killed nearly 42,800 victims, mostly women and children, and injured more than 100,400 since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
–IANS
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