By KUNA,
Geneva : ICRC Director of Operations Pierre Krahenbuhl said that the widely reported figures for the dead in Gaza stood between 580 and 600 and the wounded at 3,000.
He described the situation in Gaza for the civilians as unsustainable and added that the ICRC is dealing with a full blown humanitarian crisis and that the situation has become intolerable.
“It is critical at this point that the parties to the conflict keep civilians out of the firing line, direct attacks against civilians are prohibited and the same applies to indiscriminate attacks,” he added.
Civilians, he said, must be spared and their safety is of utmost importance.
Krahenbuhl urged all parties to respect the rules of international humanitarian law, and said that the responsibility of a party in densely populated increases, and therefore shelling those areas would often have multiplying effects.
He added that the ICRC surgical team entered yesterday Gaza and that the ICRC moved medical material that would be sufficient for 3,000 wounded.
Krahenbuhl said a Palestinian Red Crescent Society station was hit last night in Gabalia.
“If it is confirmed that Gaza will be effectively be divided in two or three parts this will delay further medical help for the people,” he stressed.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) representative in Geneva Elena Mancusi Materi confirmed today that UNRWA regrets the disunity in the Security-Council and called for an immediate cessation of the violence and opening of strategic humanitarian breathing space.
She added that this morning one of the UNRWA temporary shelters was hit by the Israeli army and three people among the displaced from the same family were killed.