Gaza's healthcare leaders are enlisting volunteers to aid their overwhelmed emergency services as ambulances grapple with challenging access to bomb sites due to debris-strewn roads.
Medical and emergency personnel, facing long hours of work, are venturing into the most perilous areas, bearing witness to the grim consequences of violent deaths, severe injuries, and profound grief.
Although dozens have responded to the Gaza Health Ministry's call for trained paramedics to support hospitals and emergency response teams, the system remains in dire need of additional personnel.
According to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave, Israeli air and artillery strikes have resulted in the deaths of more than 8,700 people* since 7 October, when Hamas fighters breached security barriers, leading to the loss of more than 1,400 Israeli lives and the taking of more than 200 hostages. Gaza's Health Ministry has reported the deaths of 116 medical staff members and 18 civil emergency department rescuers since 7 October.
*These figures were accurate at the time of writing
