It is “unacceptable” that humanitarian aid cannot enter Gaza, denounced the humanitarian director of the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC), Pierre Krähenbühl on Thursday, May 8.
“The next few days will be absolutely decisive because there is a time when we lack medical supplies and other aid,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, during a meeting with journalists in Geneva.
“It is unacceptable that humanitarian aid cannot enter the Gaza Strip,” he added.
Multiple UN warnings
Rejecting any humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory where they plan to extend their military offensive, the Israeli authorities claim that the blockade aims to force Hamas to free hostages that have always been held in Gaza since the unprecedented attack perpetrated by the Islamist movement on October 7, 2023.
“At the moment, the most effective way to send populations to the population is to eliminate these actions or decisions that have been made to avoid aid delivery,” said the CICR director.
For weeks, UN officials and NGOs have increased warnings on food, drugs and fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip, where humanitarian aid is vital for 2.4 million inhabitants.
“Help amounts at the borders of Gaza”
“We need an immediate return to a situation of high fire to lighten the pressure,” said Pierre Krähenbühl.
“There are large amounts of help at the borders of Gaza and that can be transported tomorrow, without it being necessary to wait for the establishment of a new mechanism,” he said, while the UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the Israeli government project to distribute Gaza’s help in Israeli centers.
Pierre Krähenbühl acknowledged that “humanitarian organizations do not have the monopoly” of humanitarian aid and emphasized that “states can take care of it.” “But I believe that the most immediate and effective measure is to eliminate the measures that avoid entry to aid,” he added.
“Absolute anguish” of the population
The World Food Program (PAM), one of the main food suppliers in the Gaza Strip, announced on April 25 that “exhausted all its stocks.”
“Everyone should feel a deep outrage at what is happening in Gaza,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, saying that his colleagues report on the field of “absolute anguish” of the population.
“If it is the future of war, we must all be terrified, and we must all be aware that this questions the foundations of our humanity,” he observed.
Israel, who resumed his offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two -month truce, announced on Monday a plan of “conquest” of the territory that provides a massive movement of its population, which caused numerous convictions throughout the world.
Source: BFM TV
