Geneva / Tel Aviv / Jerusalem (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is extremely concerned by the mounting number of casualties inside
the Gaza Strip, following a series of air strikes by the Israel Defense Forces. The strikes have killed at least 275 people and left more than 950 wounded, according to Palestinian health officials.
In Israel, civilians have come under attack from rockets launched from Gaza that have killed at least one Israeli and wounded several others
"People in Gaza are
very afraid to go into the streets, which are virtually empty.
The hospitals are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the scale and type of injuries that keep coming in," said Marianne Robyn
Whittington, an ICRC health delegate in Gaza.
The influx of war wounded has put a tremendous strain on Gaza's already overburdened hospitals, which are in dire need of medical equipment.
Their stocks of supplies and medicines were already severely depleted due to the difficulty in bringing medical items into the Strip in recent months.
"Our first priority is to get
more medical supplies to the hospitals right away," said Pierre Wettach, head of the ICRC's delegation in Israel and the occupied territories.
"It is therefore essential that this urgent
humanitarian assistance is allowed to enter into Gaza." The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has provided extra staff to hospitals, while workers and volunteers have been helping to evacuate the dead
and wounded from damaged or destroyed buildings.
The ICRC has so far managed to provide medical supplies to two hospitals in Gaza to meet the urgent needs of several hundred war wounded.
An ICRC shipment of more medical supplies, intravenous fluids and spare parts for hospital generators is expected to be delivered on Sunday.
It's hoped that five Palestinian Red
Crescent ambulances will be sent from Jerusalem to Gaza on Monday.
The ICRC reminds the parties to the hostilities that international humanitarian law requires that a clear distinction be
drawn between the civilian population and civilian objects on the one side, and military objectives on the other side.
In particular, the ICRC underlines the obligation of the parties to
take all feasible precautions in order to spare the civilian population from the effects of hostilities.
Medical facilities and personnel must also be protected.
“The ICRC
calls on those involved in the hostilities to exercise restraint, and urgently reminds them of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law at all times," said Wettach.
Demonstrators take part in a protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza in front of Israel's embassy in Madrid December 28, 2008. REUTERS/Juan Medina ( SPAIN) ...
