1,000 days of war on Gaza: Civil Defense announces death of 145 of its personnel

CAIRO - 1 July 2026: The Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip announced that its human and material losses during the 1,000 days of the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip have reached unprecedented levels.

 

It affirmed that its teams continue to perform their humanitarian duties despite being directly targeted and facing a lack of resources.

 

In a statement, the Civil Defense said that 145 of its personnel have been killed while carrying out their humanitarian duties, while 347 others have been injured, some suffering permanent disabilities as a result of injuries sustained during rescue operations.

 

It added that 94 percent of Civil Defense headquarters and centers have been destroyed, while its teams have been targeted 38 times during their duties.

 

Furthermore, 39 vehicles are completely out of service, and another 45 require urgent maintenance, which has significantly impacted the teams' ability to respond to calls for assistance.

 

The agency indicated that it received 191,043 distress calls during the first thousand days of the war, but was only able to respond to approximately 49.8% of them.

 

This was attributed to a severe shortage of equipment, vehicles, and fuel, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure, the continued targeting of its personnel, and the difficulty of accessing bombed areas.

 

The statement explained that Civil Defense teams carried out 186,269 rescue operations, 177,086 ambulance operations, and 25,293 firefighting operations during this period, despite what it described as some of the most difficult conditions the Gaza Strip has ever witnessed.

 

The agency emphasized that the continued targeting of rescue teams and humanitarian infrastructure exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and deprives civilians of rescue and ambulance services. It stressed that humanitarian workers are protected under international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.