By Nour Abuaisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Gaza's Civil Defense announced Wednesday that it has halted its operations in northern Gaza following the arrest of five personnel and the targeting of three others by Israeli forces.
It also said that its only fire engine in the region was destroyed, describing the situation as “catastrophic.”
“Our operations have completely ceased in North Gaza province, and the situation has become catastrophic. Residents in the area are now without essential humanitarian services,” the agency said in a statement.
The statement also noted that “Israeli occupation forces in the Sheikh Zayed area arrested five of our staff and took them to an undisclosed location.”
Earlier, the Civil Defense said Israeli drones equipped with speakers had ordered its personnel in the Beit Lahia area to move to a specific location, which Palestinians say has been turned into a military zone where men from displaced families are being detained.
It added that Israeli military vehicles “targeted our only fire truck in northern Gaza with shells, setting it ablaze.”
It further confirmed that it had lost contact with “three of its personnel who were hit by an Israeli drone earlier today in the Beit Lahia area. Their fate remains unknown.”
Earlier, three Civil Defense workers were reportedly injured after being struck by a missile fired by an Israeli drone in Beit Lahia following an evacuation order delivered via a quadcopter drone instructing them to move to the Sheikh Zayed area.
On Oct. 5, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Jabalia and surrounding areas in northern Gaza before announcing the next day the beginning of a ground incursion aimed at “preventing Hamas from regaining strength in the region.”
Palestinians, however, argue that Israel is seeking to occupy the area and displace its residents.
The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has displaced almost the entire population of the enclave amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio