'Israel' continues genocidal policy in Gaza, massacring rescue teams

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
Today 11:06

The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip has now entered its 411th day as the occupation continues its relentless assault on the region.

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The Civil Defense Directorate in the Gaza Strip released this photo following the direct targeting of one of its personnel, Ali Muhammad Omar, resulted in his martyrdom. (X)

The Israeli occupation forces continue their massacres and the destruction of residential buildings, targeting homes with residents inside in Gaza, with bombardments concentrated on the northern and central areas of the Strip.

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip reported that 12 Palestinians were massacred and more than 10 others are missing after Israeli occupation forces bombed a house in Jabalia town, located in the northern Gaza Strip.

Our correspondent further detailed that the Israeli military demolished several residential buildings around the Jabalia refugee camp during the airstrike.

In addition, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of intense airstrikes on the northern town of Beit Lahia, exacerbating the destruction in the region.

In the southwest of Gaza City, Israeli forces targeted a house near the Sultan Bakery in the Al-Sabra area, killing two Palestinians and injuring several others.

Over 15 children were wounded in the Israeli bombardment of Al-Sabra and Jabalia, with some sustaining critical injuries, as per local media outlets.

'Israel' kills civil defense teams

As Civil Defense teams worked to rescue survivors, retrieve the martyrs, and search for the missing under the rubble in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, they became targets themselves. Israeli airstrikes hit their teams during rescue operations, resulting in the martyrdom of one paramedic and injuries to three others.

The Civil Defense confirmed that its personnel were directly targeted by Israeli warplanes in the early morning hours. They emphasized that the IOF are deliberately obstructing efforts to rescue trapped civilians, contributing to the increasing death toll.

A press statement issued on behalf of the Civil Defense Directorate in the Gaza Strip following the direct targeting of one of its personnel, Ali Muhammad Omar, resulting in his martyrdom. pic.twitter.com/oHgH1AJCFg
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) November 20, 2024

Heart-wrenching videos have emerged from Gaza, one of which shows a paramedic holding the amputated arm of his colleague, who was killed in a deliberate Israeli airstrike. The harrowing footage captures the emotional moment as the first responder mourns his fallen comrade.

A civil defense member holds the arm of his colleague who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza city. pic.twitter.com/Q4Lmoyhsoq
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) November 20, 2024

Nooh, a Palestinian Civil Defense member, broke down in tears as he held the hand of his colleague, Ali Mohammed Mustafa Omar after they were targeted by Israeli occupation forces while rescuing families from the rubble in the Al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. "They bombed us while saving a woman," he said in a soul-piercing voice.

His colleague crying “I swear he got 5 kids alive from under there we all left and he was trying to get the woman out”

Ali Mustafa was part of the civil defense and he was targeted while recovering the martyred and wounded in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/broCX17Sem
— cheri 🔻 (@cheriblossom__) November 20, 2024

The spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense announced that the number of martyrs among its teams has now risen to 87.

In central Gaza, IOF also targeted the area north of the Nuseirat refugee camp, adding to the ongoing devastation.

The Gaza Government Media Office has unveiled a devastating report exposing the brutal reality of 410 days of Israeli genocide 👇 pic.twitter.com/c3aqHlqNzR
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 19, 2024

This comes as the Gaza Government Media Office unveiled a devastating report exposing the brutal reality of 410 days of Israeli genocide: 54,972 people killed and missing, including 17,492 innocent children, over 2 million forced from their homes, and 86% of Gaza’s infrastructure reduced to rubble.

'Israel' destroys Rafah's only governmental hospital

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that Israeli occupation forces destroyed the Mohammed Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, using explosive-laden unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, Director-General of Field Hospitals in the besieged territory said that the governmental hospital's destruction came in line with the systematic Israeli assault on health infrastructure in Gaza.

He revealed that Israeli occupation forces deployed explosive-laden UGVs to destroy the medical facility.

"The hospital provided health and medical services to 300,000 people," al-Hams explained.

"The hospital served over 1.5 million displaced and local residents during the genocidal war before the occupation's invasion of Rafah Governorate," he added.

The health official called on the international community to take serious action and protect, restore, and revive the Gaza Strip's health sector.

Meanwhile, the Israeli entity continues its comprehensive assault on the health and emergency services across every governorate in the Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Health reported that "dozens of hospitals and medical centers have been destroyed and rendered out of service," during the war on Gaza.

Al-Hams said that Israeli forces "deliberately target medical teams," adding that they have deliberately killed "over 1,000 doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers to date."

The Ministry also noted that "in the past hours, the Israeli army directly targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, specifically its administrators, without any justification."

The Ministry called on "the international community and all international and UN organizations to stop this war and genocide against [Palestinian people], protect hospitals, secure medical teams, and work to restore and reopen hospitals before it is too late."

Al-Hams concluded by stressing that "Gaza is experiencing a catastrophic phase unprecedented in any country in the world," urging the global community to "take serious and effective action to rescue the humanitarian and health situation before it is too late."