International organizations have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip due to the outage of electricity and water. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said many of the wounded are dying while waiting for ambulances that cannot transfer them because of clashes in Gaza. The Red Cross is very concerned with the problem of lack of water in the Gaza Strip, as 500,000 people, or one third of the population, are threatened by total deprivation of water.
With regard to the work of ambulances, the Red Cross said ambulances coordinate with the Israeli authorities and Palestinian factions so that the Red Cross employees are not subjected to the attacks. However, ambulances take hours, in many cases, to reach the injured. Ambulances sometimes cannot reach the injured due to the fighting and bombardments. At the same time, the Red Cross called for transferring the sick and injured from danger areas as soon as possible and protecting the medical teams and ambulances. Attacks on medical teams are prohibited by international law, the Red Cross said. Chairman of the Red Cross in Germany Rudolf Seiters has referred to a lack of medicines and even coffins for the victims. According to the German Red Cross, the stocks of gasoline in Gaza are not enough to provide hospitals with electricity through generators. Nor are they enough for providing ambulances with fuel for a long time.
In the meantime, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, said the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is worsening by the day after 18 months of siege imposed by Israel, including the closure of border crossings and recent military violence. The supply of food and medicine has become more dangerous than ever before. In addition, the electricity outage has increased the difficulties faced by hospitals in treating thousands of wounded as well as running out of medical supplies to treat critical cases. There is a dire need now to put an end to the violence, he added. On the other hand, a Saudi businessman who asked for anonymity has donated 25 million riyals ($6.7 million) to help the Gazans that are subjected to the Israeli aggression since December 27. The Saudi television has launched a campaign last Saturday to collect donations for Gaza. $23 million, of which $8 million by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, have been collected.
