JERUSALEM: Medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross entered Gaza on Friday for the first time since the outbreak of war on October 7, a spokeswoman for the organisation said.
Six medical staff passed through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, alongside four other ICRC specialists and six aid trucks. The organisation's regional director, Fabrizio Carboni, said the convoy was "a small dose of relief, but it's not enough". "Our surgical team and medical supplies will help relieve the extreme pressure on Gaza's doctors and nurses. But safe, sustained humanitarian access is urgently needed," he said in a statement.
"This humanitarian catastrophe is deepening by the hour," Carboni added. The ICRC's remarks echo those of the United Nations, which has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. While limited aid has reached the territory in recent days, the population of 2.4 million has been unable to flee the war. At least 7,326 people have been killed in Gaza and 18,967 have been wounded.
Most of the casualties in Gaza and Israel have been civilians, according to officials on both sides. Meanwhile, the United Nations warned Friday that "many more will die" as a result of Israel's ongoing siege of Gaza, which has also caused sewage to flow into the Palestinian territory's streets. Israel laid a total siege on Gaza following the October 7 attacks, cutting off food, fuel, water and power supplies to the enclave.
"People in Gaza are dying; they are not only dying from bombs and strikes: soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege imposed on the Gaza Strip," said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). "Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage."
During a press conference in Jerusalem, Lazzarini -- who said 57 UNRWA staff had been killed in Gaza during the war -- called for more aid to be allowed into the territory immediately.
"The current system in place is geared to fail. What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. And to succeed, we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need," he said. - AFP
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