![Raed Sahin, a paramedic working at the Nasser Hospital, mourns after coming across the body of his nephew Abdurrahman among the bodies brought during his duty following an Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza on May 23, 2025. [Alaa Y. M. Abumohsen - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AA-20250523-38056356-38056349-ISRAELI_ATTACKS_ON_GAZA_CONTINUE.jpg?fit=920%2C666&ssl=1)
Lack of heavy equipment in Gaza has halted rescue efforts to save over 50 Palestinians trapped under the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence.
On a statement on Thursday evening, the Civil Defence said that its teams had retrieved the bodies of four people and rescued six others from beneath the ruins of a four-storey residential building.
It confirmed that more than 50 individuals remain missing and unreachable “due to a complete lack of the technical capabilities required”.
The statement added that search operations had to be called off as there was no heavy machinery available to dig through the rubble and reach those still trapped.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli air raids killed more than 68 Palestinians in a series of strikes across Gaza, marking a sharp escalation in the genocide war that has continued for the past 20 months.
On Sunday, the Civil Defence had warned that its vehicles across the Gaza Strip could stop operating within 72 hours due to severe fuel shortages. It stated that its teams “will no longer be able to carry out their humanitarian missions due to the lack of fuel and scarce resources”.
The agency added that the fuel crisis “remains unresolved and is worsening by the day”, stressing that the Israeli occupation continues to prevent even the minimum amount of fuel needed to power its vehicles to continue its humanitarian services in the Strip.
Gaza has been facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis since Israel closed the border crossings on 2 March, blocking the entry of food, medicine, aid, and fuel, while intensifying its military offensive against the Palestinian population of the enclave.
READ: Germany demands ‘comprehensive investigation’ into Israel’s killings of medics in Gaza
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