Israel shells civil defense depot in Gaza, destroying equipment used in vital rescue operations

Bulldozers and other heavy machinery used to remove rubble in life-saving operations in Jabaliya were destroyed shortly after midnight on Tuesday when Israel shelled a depot in the north Gaza city.

Images broadcast in the moments following the strike showed the depot in flames after the bombardment, which struck another blow to municipal and first response agencies already struggling to fulfill their vital role in supporting civilians in the area under consistent targeting and an Israeli blockade that has impaired their capacity.

Heavy machinery damaged and destroyed in the attack included bulldozers used in humanitarian operations, reconstruction efforts and municipal work.

Some of the equipment had been brought into the strip from Egypt for life-saving missions and reconstructing infrastructure destroyed by the first 15 months of the war.

Other vehicles belonged to the municipality and were used for vital services and reconstruction to make the area inhabitable for its residents.

Five of the vehicles destroyed were designated for civil defense work, according to a statement published on Tuesday by Mohamed al-Mughayyir, head of logistics and supply at Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency. He specified five CAT 950B loaders, three CAT 950E loaders and one CAT 972 loader.

Civil defense teams had been using the machinery to retrieve bodies buried beneath the rubble of buildings leveled in Israel’s attacks, as well as to clear roads and flatten land, Mughayyir told Mada Masr.

He added that some of the targeted equipment was brought into Gaza during the ceasefire period under arrangements made by the Qatari-Egyptian committee, which was appointed to oversee a number of operations in the strip under the ceasefire agreement that temporarily came into effect in January.

Jabalia al-Nazla Municipality head Mazen al-Najjar told Mada Masr that municipal machinery was also damaged, as well as other equipment supplied by Egypt and brought into Gaza in previous years for reconstruction efforts and for building Egypt-sponsored residential cities following the 2021 war.

Najjar said that this is some of the last equipment in Gaza, meaning its destruction will substantially disrupt municipal operations and impact services provided to civilians.

Around 50 construction vehicles in total were destroyed, the Israeli military stated on Wednesday. It said it carried out the strike to compromise Hamas’s capacity, claiming that Hamas had used the equipment during the October 7 attack to breach the border fence enclosing Gaza which separates it from the Israeli-held territory. It also claimed the bulldozers were used to plant bombs and dig tunnels during the war.

The vehicles were stationed at a location agreed upon in advance with the Qatari-Egyptian committee, Mughayyir said, and the coordinates were shared with the Israeli military. The site is not a designated military zone, he stressed.

Mughayyir said that targeting these vehicles constitutes a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, which mandate the protection of civil defense vehicles and equipment used in humanitarian missions.

Civil defense teams have already repeatedly stated that Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has lasted for almost two months now, is limiting their capacity to send teams to provide life-saving rescue operations, including extinguishing fires and rescuing people buried under rubble.

Israel killed 39 Palestinians on Tuesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday morning, and over 51,305 Palestinians since the start of the aggression in 2023.