Gaza: Emergency response services in Gaza are facing mounting challenges as the Gaza Civil Defense has issued an urgent appeal to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and international humanitarian organizations for immediate assistance in repairing emergency vehicles that have remained out of service for the past 12 days.
According to Lt. Col. Nizar Al-Bardini, Director of the Al-Rimal Civil Defense Center, three essential emergency vehicles—a fire truck, a rescue vehicle, and an ambulance—are currently inoperable. He said the vehicles cannot be repaired due to soaring maintenance costs and severe shortages of spare parts and lubricants in local markets.
Al-Bardini warned that the prolonged breakdown of these vehicles has significantly affected emergency response operations in western Gaza City, leaving thousands of residents and displaced people with limited access to vital rescue, firefighting, and ambulance services. As humanitarian needs continue to grow, delays in emergency response are placing additional pressure on already strained relief efforts.
He urged the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations to fulfill their humanitarian responsibilities by providing the urgent support needed to restore the vehicles to service. He stressed that repairing the vehicles would enable Civil Defense crews to continue carrying out life-saving rescue operations and protect civilians under the current conditions in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Bardini also noted that with the Al-Rimal Civil Defense Center unable to operate its vehicles, the entire Gaza Governorate has been forced to rely solely on the Al-Tuffah Civil Defense Center for firefighting, rescue, ambulance services, and emergency response operations. This, he said, has placed increasing pressure on its resources while slowing response times across the governorate.