In a war where even rescue is met with fire, the price of compassion has become deadly. Since the start of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, at least 119 members of the Civil Defence have been killed, targeted while trying to save others under relentless bombardment.

Among them is First Lieutenant Shafiq Nafez Salim, a firefighter who joined the service in 2009. Killed in northern Gaza during a humanitarian mission, Shafiq had already survived multiple injuries while responding to emergencies. He never stopped answering the call for help.

His death is not an isolated tragedy but part of a wider pattern. Civil Defence teams, ambulance drivers, and medics are systematically attacked, their vehicles destroyed, their missions obstructed. According to the Civil Defence Directorate in Gaza, these men and women were killed not in combat, but in service, while carrying the wounded, pulling survivors from the rubble, and giving families a final chance to bury their dead.

The targeting of rescue teams reveals a war not only against a people, but against the very essence of humanity. In Gaza, even those who save lives are marked for death.

As the world watches, Gaza continues to lose its protectors, the ones who run toward danger, not away from it. Their sacrifice is Gaza’s cry for justice.