ICRC: Relief organisations unable to work safely in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday that humanitarian relief organisations are unable to work safely in the besieged Gaza Strip in light of the destruction of hospitals and the targeting of humanitarian workers.

“Gaza Hospitals reduced to rubble. Humanitarian workers killed. Each collapse of the system is another devastation for civilians. Less access to aid. Less medical assistance. Less hope,” the ICRC wrote in a post on X.

Civilians have faced months of conflict, been displaced multiple times, & witnessed the deaths of thousands.

Humanitarian aid organizations are unable to carry out their work safely.

The health care system faces shock after shock, with patients losing access to emergency care.

— ICRC (@ICRC) April 3, 2024

The ICRC post was released a day after Israel assumed responsibility for the killing of seven workers of international aid organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) during an overnight air strike in the Gaza Strip.

The ICRC noted that humanitarian aid organisations were unable to operate safely, and “the health care system faces shock after shock, with patients losing access to emergency care.”

It added that civilians went through months of conflict, during which they were displaced several times and witnessed the deaths of thousands.

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said earlier it recovered 300 people who had been shot in Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its surroundings in Gaza City after Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the area following a 15-day siege.

The Director of the Shifa Medical Complex, Marwan Abu Saada, confirmed on Tuesday, that the hospital is completely out of service, and cannot be restored, with the hospital buildings on the verge of collapse.

READ: Many patients of destroyed Gaza hospital will die if not evacuated, WHO chief warns