THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has issued a dire warning that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is nearing total collapse, as Israel intensifies its genocidal war and continues to enforce a suffocating siege.
In a statement released on Friday, the ICRC said its operations are now critically hindered by Israel’s blockade, leaving the organisation unable to access vital resources such as food, medical supplies, and other essentials necessary to keep life-saving programmes running.
The Red Cross stressed that without an urgent and sustained resumption of aid, Gaza’s health and relief infrastructure will disintegrate entirely.
Israel’s assault on Gaza began on 7 October 2023 and has since led to the mass slaughter of at least 52,418 Palestinians — most of them women and children — while injuring more than 118,091 others.
Despite the scale of destruction, Israel has failed to achieve any of its stated military goals.
A ceasefire agreement had been in place from 19 January following mediation and acceptance of longstanding negotiation terms offered by Hamas.
However, Israel unilaterally violated the truce on 2 March, cutting off all humanitarian deliveries and resuming its campaign of airstrikes and military incursions into Gaza.
Pascal Hundt, the ICRC’s Deputy Director of Operations, warned that the people of Gaza are being pushed beyond the brink.
‘Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance,’ he said.
‘This situation must not – and cannot – be allowed to escalate further.’
On Friday, Israel’s military continued its aerial bombardment of Gaza, killing at least 22 more Palestinians.
Among the latest casualties were eight members of a single family who were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a residential building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
In a separate attack on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, two additional Palestinians were killed and several others wounded.
The ongoing assault, carried out in full defiance of international law, constitutes a clear case of collective punishment and war crimes, with no accountability or restraint imposed by Western allies.
Israel’s blockade, enforced with the backing of the United States, has cut off Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from access to food, clean water, electricity, and medical care, resulting in conditions widely recognised as ethnic cleansing.
