Israel Targets Gaza's Medical, Civil Defense Workers

Fifteen Palestinian medical workers and seven civil defense personnel were killed by Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war on Gaza on July 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday.



Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra said the medical workers and the civil defense personnel were killed by the Israeli strikes as they tried to put out fires induced by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and also rescue victims from these attacks.



He added that 16 more Palestinian medical workers and civil defense personnel were injured since the beginning of the war on July 7.



Mohamed al-Attar, the deputy head of the Operations and Emergency Section at Gaza's Civil Defense Agency, accused Israel of intentionally targeting medical workers and the staff of his agency.



He told Anadolu Agency that two agency centers were totally destroyed by Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis.



"Some of the vehicles of the agency were also destroyed by Israeli strikes," al-Attar said.



He said he and his agency staff work tooth and nail to keep doing their work, saying this work should not stop even as Israel keeps shelling different areas in the Gaza Strip.



Israel has killed 1452 Gazans and injured 8360 in three weeks of incessant attacks on the Gaza Strip.



The United Nations and the United States managed to broker a three-day humanitarian ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but Israeli attacks on Gaza continue to be launched, even as the ceasefire should start in less than two hours.



The ceasefire will start at 8: 00am local time (0500 GMT) to open the door for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the residents of the embattled strip.



Palestinian and Israeli delegations are also due in Cairo, Egypt, in a few hours' time to discuss a durable deal between Gaza and Israel.



By Nour al-Masri  



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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