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ICRC demands protection of patients, healthcare workers, medical facilities in Gaza

November 11, 2023

ICRC demands protection of patients, healthcare workers, medical facilities in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is urgently calling for the respect and protection of medical facilities, patients and healthcare workers in Gaza amidst escalating violence.

A statement by William Schomburg, head of ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza said the overstretched, running on thin supplies and increasingly unsafe, healthcare system in Gaza has reached a point of no return risking the lives of thousands of wounded, sick and displaced people.

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The statement noted that over the past days, ICRC teams distributing critical supplies to medical structures across Gaza, have witnessed horrendous images that have now gotten worse due to sharpened hostilities and severely affecting hospitals and ambulances, and taking a heavy toll on civilians, patients and medical staff.

“The destruction affecting hospitals in Gaza is becoming unbearable and needs to stop. The lives of thousands of civilians, patients and medical staff are at risk”, Schomburg said.

He noted that children’s hospitals have not been spared from the violence, including Al Nasser Hospital, heavily damaged by the hostilities, and Al Rantisi Hospital, which has had to cease its operations.

“Our partner the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has been working relentlessly to continue operating the Al Quds Hospital, as it desperately runs out of the necessary means, amidst increasing hostilities.

“Al Shifa Medical Complex, the largest referral hospital in the Gaza Strip, already overwhelmed with patients, now hosts thousands of displaced families who lost their homes over the last month due to the conflict.

“Any military operation around hospitals must consider the presence of civilians, who are protected under international humanitarian law. Attacks on medical facilities and personnel deal a heavy blow to the healthcare system in Gaza, which is severely weakened after more than one month of heavy fighting,” the statement added.

ICRC reitrated that “the rules of war are clear. Hospitals are specially protected facilities under international humanitarian law. The ICRC urgently calls for the immediate protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers and medical personnel. This protection is not only a legal obligation but a moral imperative to preserve human life in these terrible times.”

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