Between body bags and farewell wishes: Abu Sabha recounts a thousand days on the brink of death

In a humanitarian report, ambulance driver Izz al-Din Abu Sabha from Khan Younis recounts the suffering of civil defense crews during more than a thousand days of war on Gaza. He speaks of losing his colleagues, being directly targeted seven times, lack of resources, the difficulty of recovering bodies and remains, and the war's impact on his daily life.

In an extended report, ambulance driver Izz al-Din Abu Sabha, who has worked in civil defense for eleven years, recounts his experience during more than a thousand days of war on Gaza. Abu Sabha, known as "Abu Osama," describes his daily rituals before leaving for a 24-hour shift, where he bids farewell to his children as if it were the last time. He speaks of losing dozens of colleagues, including four in a single strike in al-Mawasi on July 13, 2024, among them the fire chief, Brigadier General Osama Hamd. He has responded to over a thousand calls in Khan Younis, transporting between 15 and 20 martyrs daily in the early months. He describes scenes of scattered remains he collected, and the hardest moment when he received a report that his home was targeted, and he recovered the body of his wife's brother. He talks about being directly targeted seven times, and an incident where a young man with amputated legs was killed before his eyes. He points to the severe shortage of equipment, with only one fire truck and one rescue vehicle for hundreds of thousands of residents, and the martyrdom of 24 civil defense members in Khan Younis. Despite all this, he continues his work, aware that the line between life and death may be minutes.