ICRC stresses the need to take concrete measures to preserve the access of the people of Gaza to medical care

Geneva, (ST) –  The International Committee of the Red Cross stressed the need to take concrete measures to preserve access to emergency and life-saving medical care for those in need in Gaza Strip.

The committee said in a statement today, reported by Wafa News Agency, that at the present time, nearly two million Palestinians in Gaza Strip have no choice but to do so except the Nasser Medical Complex and the European Hospital in the south of the Strip, which provide surgical services and advanced emergency medical services, although this is not sufficient for the wounded and patients in various parts of Gaza,.

It pointed out that all hospitals in the Strip suffer from severe overcrowding and a shortage of medical supplies, fuel, food, and water, and they shelter many, including thousands of displaced families.

The committee pointed out that the humanitarian necessity to protect health facilities in Gaza is clear and unambiguous, given the size of the population, the current dire living conditions, the collapsed health system, and the intensity of the fighting. If these medical facilities stop working, especially the Nasser Medical Complex and the Gaza European Hospital, the world will witness the loss of thousands of lives that could have been saved, the committee clarified.

The committee said that less than 20 percent of the area of Gaza Strip, or about 60 square kilometers, has now become a refuge for more than one and a half million displaced people living in miserable conditions in the south of the Strip, where the escalation threatens their chances of survival.

The committee stressed the need to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of hospitals and the civilians inside them, to ensure that health care workers, the wounded, the sick, and ambulances reach hospitals safely, and to facilitate the timely supply of hospitals with the necessary materials, such as medicines, fuel, food, and water, to keep them operating.

Raghda Sawas