GENEVA: The Red Cross said many Gaza medical facilities were "overwhelmed" on Tuesday following a deadly wave of Israeli strikes, while the World Health Organization reported medicines running short. The health ministry in the Palestinian territory said the bodies of 413 people had been received by Gaza hospitals, after Israel unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire came into effect on January 19. The truce largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza triggered by October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Colleagues in the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) were reporting early on Tuesday that "many medical facilities are literally overwhelmed across Gaza", Tommaso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said at a briefing in Geneva. He said that PRCS teams had been responding to the attacks overnight and as of 7:00 am local time, "they have responded to 150 fatalities and 179 injured people; children were among the casualties".
Della Longa said medical facilities were being overwhelmed both by the number of patients and the pressure on dwindling supplies. "There are shortages of food, supplies and fuel," he said, adding that PRCS teams were assessing the impact of fuel shortages on ambulance services and the ability of first responders to reach those in need. "There are shortages of medical supplies and medicines in hospitals and clinics: this is making the provision of life-saving treatment increasingly difficult," he said. "No fuel and no aid have entered Gaza since the beginning of March — fewer ambulances are able to operate and this morning's bombardment has seen ambulances responding across the Gaza Strip which means fuel supplies have plummeted further."
The six-week truce starting on January 19 enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance, but on March 2 Israel blocked the flow of aid during an impasse over extending the ceasefire. "Of course, it was very positive to have six weeks of aid entering, including medicine and medical supplies, but this was not enough to replenish all the stocks," Della Longa said. World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic also warned that medicine stocks were becoming depleted.
"Unfortunately, because of this shortage of medicines, there is a risk of health workers not being able to provide treatment for different medical conditions -- not only for trauma injuries," he told the briefing. Jasarevic said many supplies were now "running out". He said the WHO had 16 trucks waiting at El Arish, on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border, while procurement of essential medical supplies was ongoing. "We need the access, and we need, obviously, a ceasefire to get back, because again, it's just more suffering for Palestinian people," he said.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas called on Tuesday for the international community to "compel" Israel to end its "aggression" in Gaza, after a wave of overnight Israeli strikes killed more than 400 people, according to the territory's health ministry. Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the strikes in a statement and called on "the international community to compel the occupation to stop its aggression against our people everywhere in the Gaza Strip", while Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa issued a similar call during a Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting.
Russia on Tuesday condemned Israel's renewed bombardment of the Gaza strip, the deadliest since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in January. At least 413 people were killed in the latest strikes, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. "Moscow deeply regrets Israel's resumption of its military operation in the Gaza Strip," the Russian foreign ministry said. "Russia strongly condemns any action that leads to the death of civilians and destruction of social infrastructure." The Kremlin said earlier it was concerned the strikes would lead to a "spiral of escalation". "We are monitoring the situation very closely and, of course, we are waiting for it to enter a peaceful course again," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. — AFP
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