News / Palestine

ICRC’s Gaza chief says aid workers face ‘extreme difficulties’

Monday, 15 July 2024 6:38 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 15 July 2024 6:38 PM ]

A doctor checks a malnourished Palestinian girl in Deir el-Balah. (File by Reuters)

There are no words to describe the level of desperation throughout the besieged Gaza Strip, says the head of the Gaza branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

William Schomburg said on Monday the Palestinians in Gaza were struggling to find food, water and healthcare to survive.

“Bringing things into Gaza is extremely complicated and it’s made worse by the continuing breakdown of law and order, which is hampering our ability to deliver assistance to those who need it most,” Schomburg said.

“We are trying to revitalize ‘collective kitchens’ that we operated in Rafah until hostilities no longer enabled them to function,” Schomburg said. “But the conditions are extremely difficult to operate in.”
The ICRC official said civilians are in “desperate need” of clean water and sanitation services. Schomburg urged “unimpeded” humanitarian relief into Gaza.

The ICRC recently said relief organizations are unable to work safely in the Gaza Strip in light of the destruction of hospitals and the targeting of humanitarian workers.

79 Palestinian aid workers killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza Strip: Civil Defense

The Gaza Civil Defense says it has lost at least 79 of its employees ever since the Israeli military launched its bloody onslaught against the coastal territory in early October last year.

The Israeli military and settlers block trucks carrying humanitarian aid to desperate Palestinians in Gaza.

The military has seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The crossing is crucial for aid supplies.

In another development on Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it will take a decade and a half to clear the roughly 40 million tonnes of rubble created by Israel’s barbarism in Gaza.

This would require over 100 trucks and cost more than $500 million but is an essential effort, UNRWA said, because debris created by war can contain unexploded bombs and “harmful substances.”

It would take up to 15 years to clear around 40 million tons of war rubble in #Gaza says @UNEP. The effort would need 100+ trucks and cost over $500 million.

Debris poses a deadly threat for people in the #GazaStrip as it can contain unexploded ordnance and harmful substances. pic.twitter.com/KNyvXlZ0hC
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 15, 2024