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Gaza 101: Emergency Rescue

18/06/2024 05:00 GMT

First broadcast: on BBC Persian TVLatest broadcast: on BBC Persian TV

Amid heavy Israeli bombardment, Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medics risk everything to save lives in the first month of the war.

This film, shot by a journalist from Gaza, offers rare, intimate access to the work of the PRCS, who are the first to respond when civilians call 101, the Gaza emergency number.

10,000 Palestinians are killed in a month, a figure the medics themselves help to inform, as they count the dead bodies they stretcher from buildings blasted to rubble.

Within a week of the war starting, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped 6,000 bombs on northern Gaza. Many of those killed or injured in the strikes are children, including newborn babies who are rushed to hospital.

Gaza 101: Emergency Rescue shows the extreme psychological toll on the PRCS crew, when three of their colleagues are killed by an IDF airstrike that destroys one of their ambulances.The IDF told the BBC they did not intentionally target the ambulance.

Weeks into the war, Israel cut off all communications in Gaza, leaving the paramedics unable to respond to emergency calls. It also makes it harder for them to speak to their own families, who have fled to the south of Gaza as conditions in the north worsen.

As Israeli tanks move in, the medics struggle to continue their work, with attacks getting closer to their base of operations. The IDF says it's targeting Hamas and not deliberately targeting civilians, the PCRS or medical workers.

Filmed by local Palestinian journalist Feras Al Ajrami, this World Service documentary produced by BBC News Arabic shows the immense personal sacrifice Palestinian first responders are making in a time of war. Show less

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