Since the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip came into effect on October 10, 2025, the death toll has not stopped rising, and ambulance sirens continue to wail through the streets of the Strip with every new airstrike, in a race to save as many lives as possible.
For more than 1,000 days, these vehicles and their crews have not had a chance to catch their breath. They continue to operate within a system already exhausted by years of siege, before the war of annihilation came to complete the depletion of its remaining vehicles and resources, gradually pushing it to the brink of paralysis.
In the Al-Faluja area, north of Jabalia, when the occupation targeted the central police station on July 15, citizen Abdullah Abu Taqiya was only three minutes away from the scene.
He arrived quickly to find about 15 people, both dead and wounded, their bodies scattered on the ground. Among them were women and children. Residents called for ambulances, but only one was available in the area, while two others were out of service.
Abu Taqiya told Al Jazeera that the first ambulance arrived after about 15 minutes, taking several wounded people with it, while others remained on the ground waiting for transportation to the hospital. With no other ambulances available, residents resorted to using civilian cars and three-wheeled motorcycles (tuk-tuks) to transport the injured, hoping to find an ambulance along the way.
Abu Taqiya added, “I put my friend in a tuk-tuk, and after a while, we met an ambulance and took him to it.” He continued, explaining the suffering that worsens daily due to the occupation’s restrictions and limitations: “Then a civilian car stopped carrying two more wounded people, so we took them with us, until there were 10 people in the ambulance, including three in critical condition.” Inside the ambulance, there were insufficient supplies. Those accompanying the wounded took off their clothes and bandaged their wounds, while others attempted to perform CPR with their hands.
But the ambulance itself didn’t reach its destination directly. After traveling about halfway, it broke down on the rough road, forcing the paramedics to call for another vehicle. Meanwhile, the wounded continued to bleed while waiting for it to arrive. As the minutes ticked by, Abdullah’s friend died before reaching Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
The attack resulted in the deaths of seven Palestinian police officers, but the tragedy—as Gazans see it—doesn’t end with the moment of the bombing. It extends to a depleted ambulance system whose delays are tantamount to the loss of lives that could have been saved.
