Gaza in 'full blown crisis'
2009-01-06 13:29
Geneva - The international Red Cross on Tuesday warned that increasing numbers of civilians in the Gaza Strip are being killed during Israel's military offensive, locking the territory in a "full blown" humanitarian crisis.
"I cannot sufficiently underline the level of concern and anxiety that is felt at the ICRC in relation to the crisis in Gaza," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the director of operations for the International Commitee of the Red Cross.
"At present we are gravely concerned by the growing number of civilian deaths and injuries, and the growing number of civilian infrastructure including hospitals, that have been affected by Israeli operations," he said at a press briefing in Geneva.
"It is critical that the parties at this point do everything to keep civilians out of the firing line," Kreahenbuehl added, warning that conditions for civilians in the Palestinian territory had become "clearly intolerable".
"There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting."
Kraehenbuehl said ICRC staff in Gaza had described the past night as "the most frightening to date", as they hunkered down in single rooms in fear of being struck by bombardments in the densely-populated coastal strip.
Although access to the territory for relief supplies had eased, the key problem lay within the Gaza Strip where help was unable to reach victims due to the intensity of the fighting, the senior ICRC official said.
"The point now is movement inside the Gaza Strip."
Direct attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure as well as indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international law.
Kraehenbuehl insisted that the densely-populated nature of Gaza, which is home to an estimated 1.5 million people, meant that respect for those rules and precautions against collateral damage were all the more important.