Tehran – The Iranian Red Crescent Association (IRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) emphasize the need to promote an unhindered flow of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
According to the IRCS website, IRCS Head Pirhossein Kolivand is an online meeting with Nicolas von Arx, the Middle East Regional Director near the ICRC, highlighting the need to send immediate humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Authorities also called it essential to rebuild the medical centre and provide medical and psychological support to children, women and seniors in the Gaza Strip.
Referring to the ICRC report on the measures taken to support Gaza, Koliband said the state of Gaza was difficult and heartbreaking. More than 2 million people needing food and drinking water have been evacuated, according to the report. Gaza’s medical infrastructure has been destroyed, with mothers with 93,000 pregnant women and new babies. 25,000 civilians need medicines to survive. These groups need to prioritize the provision of humanitarian assistance.
All countries need to work together to promote the entry of aid and relief teams into Gaza. They should help rebuild the medical centre in Gaza.
Arx said, “About 60,000 Palestinians have been evacuated following the attack on October 7th. Our colleagues are still in Gaza and Rafa.
However, over the past five months we have lost four staff members. “Referring to the field hospitals established in the area, officials said over the past few months, the Israeli military has targeted hospitals several times a day while their colleagues were undergoing surgery, but even under these circumstances they have not stopped serving people affected by the war.
The official continued, “An estimated 17,000 people in Gaza need to find relatives. So far, we have been able to connect around 5,000 individuals with their families.”
“An important part of our mission is to promote compliance with humanitarian law and improve the protection of civilians. We strive to prioritize these core issues in discussions between the parties to the conflict,” added Arx.
Authorities also praised the IRCS for their efforts to maintain fairness in sending humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
Immediate Actions on Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis
In July, Koliband in a letter to the ICRC’s president called for rapid action to stop the humanitarian crisis escalated by Gaza’s starvation and end the torture of civilians.
IRCS Head Pir-Hossein Kolivand, referring to the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Relief and Labor Bureau reports for UN Palestinian Refugees, said about a quarter of Gaza’s population is facing hunger, with thousands of women and children dead from the pram.
There have also been reports that Zionist troops were targeting civilians waiting for food, officials added.
The letter highlights Israel’s actions as a clear example of war crimes and as a clear violation of the principles of humanitarian law. The actions of the Israeli regime may fall under the International Criminal Court’s definition of genocide in the Roman law and the 1948 treaty.
Officials called on the ICRC to utilize all their capabilities to expand humanitarian diplomacy with responsible institutions and pave the way for humanitarian assistance to the region.
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