In the besieged Gaza Strip, emergency responders say the line between rescue work and mortal danger has all but vanished. Senior ambulance official Fares Afana stated on Wednesday that paramedic Ibrahim Saqr was deliberately targeted while on duty, rejecting claims circulated by Israeli authorities as “fabricated narratives”. According to Afana, Saqr had been en route to carry out routine emergency work in the al-Tuwam area when he was struck, despite the clearly humanitarian nature of his role.

Afana argued that such incidents form part of a wider pattern in what he described as a sustained genocidal war, where medical teams and civil defence workers have repeatedly come under fire. He pointed to earlier episodes in Rafah, where 15 responders were reportedly killed and later buried, alleging attempts to obscure the circumstances. For those on the ground, he said, the risk is constant and indiscriminate, with ambulances dispatched daily across northern, central and southern areas amid ongoing bombardment and gunfire.

Despite mounting losses, emergency crews continue to operate, transporting wounded civilians, many of them women and children living in makeshift tents, to overstretched facilities. Afana placed the number of medical and civil defence personnel killed across Gaza at more than 250, including 17 in the north alone. He called for international accountability, urging that those responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians be brought before the courts, while insisting that the work of paramedics would persist regardless of the dangers. For many in Gaza, he added, each fallen colleague strengthens their resolve to continue.