GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Gaza’s Civil Defense has appealed to the secretary-general of the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO) and its member states, calling for urgent action to strengthen the capabilities of its rescue crews as they continue operating under extraordinary conditions amid widespread destruction, repeated attacks, and severe shortages of equipment, vehicles, and protective gear.
In a letter obtained by Safa on Monday, the Civil Defense said its crews continue to carry out life-saving missions, including recovering victims from beneath the rubble, extinguishing fires, responding to airstrikes, and rescuing civilians despite the daily dangers they face.
The agency said a number of its personnel have been killed while performing their humanitarian duties and that many of its headquarters and emergency vehicles have been destroyed, significantly undermining its ability to respond to the humanitarian disaster.
The Civil Defense stressed that its personnel are protected under international humanitarian law and that targeting them or obstructing their work is prohibited. It called on the International Civil Defense Organization to assume a more active role in supporting Gaza’s civil defense in line with the humanitarian principles upon which the organization was founded.
The agency urged the organization to take immediate practical steps to strengthen its operational capacity in Gaza by providing rescue equipment, firefighting tools, emergency vehicles, and protective gear. It also called for efforts to ensure the protection of rescue crews and respect for international humanitarian law, dispatch professional assessment missions to evaluate urgent field needs and develop a plan to restore the agency’s capabilities, and mobilize member states to provide the technical, logistical, and humanitarian assistance necessary to sustain rescue operations and protect civilians.
The Civil Defense concluded its appeal by warning that “the world’s silence in the face of the suffering of rescue teams threatens not only Civil Defense personnel but also civilians’ right to receive emergency assistance in their darkest hours.”
It stressed that Gaza’s Civil Defense personnel “are not asking for privileges; they are demanding their right to carry out their humanitarian mission safely and in accordance with international law and conventions.”
