The Red Cross called on Wednesday for the provision of safe and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian workers in order to deliver the necessary aid to the area. TASR writes on the basis of a report by the AFP agency.
“Without this approach, children will freeze to death… families will starve. Without such an approach, humanitarian workers cannot save lives,” said Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFCR).
The IFCR said that the winter is worsening the living conditions of the residents there. According to him, the heavy rain and floods have ravaged the makeshift shelters in the region and people have up to 30 centimeters of water in their damaged tents. According to the IFCR, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is trying to provide emergency medical services and supplies to people in the Gaza Strip, but aid is insufficient.
Dysfunctional hospitals
The IFCR deplored the “continuing attacks on medical facilities throughout the Gaza Strip”. According to a UN report last Friday, only 16 of the 36 hospitals are partially operational and their capacity of 1,800 beds is nowhere near sufficient.
The north of the Gaza Strip has been without functional hospitals since the end of December after Israeli attacks. The IFCR emphasized that the closure of the main Rafah border crossing to Egypt in the south of the Palestinian Territory last May had a dramatic impact on the humanitarian situation.
