Source: Mondoweiss.net
On September 17, the Israeli army bombed a block near the al-Bureij refugee camp, completely destroying seven homes and trapping dozens under the rubble. When rescuers arrived at the scene to help, Israeli drones started firing at them as well.
The Israeli army bombed an entire residential block east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip at dawn on September 17. Over seven buildings housing Palestinian families were completely destroyed, caving in on top of the heads of their inhabitants. According to witnesses, the Israeli army prevented ambulance and Civil Defense crews from reaching the site to rescue those who may have survived, using quadcopter drones to shoot at anyone who arrived.
Civil Defense teams had first arrived at the site at around 5:30 a.m. and began rescue efforts, despite the difficulty of working in the dark without proper equipment.
The spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, told Mondoweiss that when Civil Defense teams first arrived at the site, they found that all the bombed houses had been inhabited by three families. The Tartawi family, the Abu Shawqa family, and the Batran family accounted for over 50 people in the buildings.
“Our teams arrived on site and saw the bodies of the martyrs under the rubble and the ceilings that had fallen on top of them,” Basal told Mondoweiss.
Not long after first responders started pulling victims out from under the rubble, the Israeli army’s drones arrived and shot upon rescuers, journalists, and bystanders.
“There were also voices of people under the rubble, but suddenly while the teams were working, Israeli drones began shooting at the location and ordering people through speakers to leave the area immediately,” Basal said.
“Our crews withdrew after several people were injured, including civilians who participated in digging for martyrs alongside the Civil Defense crews,” he added.
The rescue teams were only able to retrieve the bodies of four people, including a child, before they were forced to leave the scene.
“The bodies of the citizens and the injured are still under the rubble. The screams of people were clear, and many were still alive,” Basal continued….