War in the Middle East - Aid organizations sound the alarm: "Horror" in the Gaza Strip
"Horror" and "unbearable human suffering": Aid organizations warn of dramatic effects on the civilian population in the coastal area in view of the expansion of Israeli ground operations to the entire Gaza Strip. They also criticize the desolate humanitarian situation there. Nobody feels safe when bombs are falling every ten minutes, said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's charity Unicef, to the British BBC. He described the situation as "horror".
"When I see one child after another being wheeled in, parents with terrible war injuries screaming on stretchers - they are not safe in hospitals or in shelters," said Elder. For the people in the south of the Gaza Strip, the danger of attacks is compounded by the fact that they are already exhausted from fleeing from the north.
"The extent of human suffering is unbearable"
The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, lamented that no adequate humanitarian aid is currently possible. "The extent of human suffering is unbearable," she said during a visit to the embattled Palestinian territory. It was also unacceptable that there were no safe havens for the population.
Photos showed people camping in makeshift tent camps and in the open among rubble and destroyed buildings.
Save the Children warned of the enormous risks posed to children by the fighting in the south of the Gaza Strip. Following new calls from Israel's military to evacuate areas, there is no longer a single safe place for children in Gaza, said Country Director Jason Lee. "For the civilian population in Gaza, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis is finally turning into a catastrophe."
Hamas authority: Death toll in Gaza rises to nearly 15,900
Due to the high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as a result of the massive attacks, international criticism of the Israeli army's actions is growing. The military in turn accuses the Islamist Hamas of carrying out attacks from residential areas and hospitals and abusing civilians as human shields.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to 15,899 since the start of the war. Around 42,000 people have been injured, a spokesman said on Monday. Thousands of people are still missing. On Sunday, the authorities had still spoken of more than 15,500 dead.
The number of victims cannot be independently verified at present, but the United Nations and other observers point out that the authority's figures have proved to be generally credible in the past.
According to the figures, this is by far the highest number of Palestinians killed during a war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
UNRWA: almost 1.9 million internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip
According to the Palestinian relief organization UNRWA, almost 1.9 million people are on the run. This is more than 80 percent of the population, UNRWA announced. Almost one million internally displaced persons are in 99 facilities in the center of the coastal area as well as in Chan Junis and Rafah in the south. More than 2.2 million people live in the Gaza Strip - in an area only slightly larger than that of the city of Munich.
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- Aid organizations, including Save the Children, have expressed deep concern about the safety of children in Gaza, as there is no longer a single safe place for them due to the ongoing conflicts.
- Mirjana Spoljaric, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), expressed her feelings of despair over the unbearable humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where adequate aid is not reaching the civilians.
- James Elder, the spokesperson for UNICEF, described the situation in Gaza as "horror," with civilians living in constant fear as bombs fall every ten minutes.
- The UN and other aid organizations have criticized the Israeli military's actions in the Gaza Strip, condemning the high number of civilian casualties and the violation of international humanitarian law.
- The Israeli military, on the other hand, accuses the Hamas authority of using residential areas and hospitals as campaign bases and abusing civilians as human shields.
- The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health has reported a death toll of nearly 15,900 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict, with over 42,000 injured and thousands still missing.
- The United Nations and other observers have acknowledged the credibility of the Hamas authority's figures, making it the highest number of Palestinians killed during a war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- nearly 1.9 million people have been displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip, according to UNRWA, with close to 80% of the population now internally displaced.
- The Red Cross and other aid organizations have struggled to provide aid to the civilians in the Gaza Strip, with no safe havens for the population and limited access to the area due to ongoing conflicts.
- The BBC interviewed James Elder, the spokesperson for UNICEF, who spoke of the terrible war injuries he had witnessed in hospitals and shelters in the Gaza Strip, with children being constantly rushed in.
- Harakat el-Mukawame el-Islamije, a militant group operating in the Gaza Strip, has been accused of carrying out attacks from residential areas and hospitals, adding to the theat of civilians in the region.
Source: www.stern.de
