The Red Cross believes the situation in the Gaza Strip is so precarious that it “goes beyond the scale” they know.
The Gaza Strip was well lit before 7 October. Now the situation is different. Photo: International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS)
Published: 03/01/2024 17:52 | Updated: 04/03/2024 10:12
The short version
- Israel’s prolonged bombing of the Gaza Strip has destroyed hospitals and infrastructure, and created food shortages. The Red Cross and Care warn of a desperate humanitarian situation.
The summary is created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and quality assured by Aftenposten’s journalists.
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In the last 24 hours alone, 193 Palestinians have been killed and 920 wounded. The vast majority of them in what the Palestinian authorities refer to as a massacre on the outskirts of Gaza City.
A total of 30,228 Palestinians have been killed and over 71,000 injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. It is unclear how many of those killed are Hamas fighters.
– The situation in Gaza is absolutely terrible. It is a situation that blows the scale of what we have seen and what we could imagine could happen.
That’s what Anne Bergh, secretary general of the Red Cross, says in a press release.
– There is simply not enough food and drink for Gaza’s population and there is a great danger of famine.
Children pick up food rations from the ground at an aid station in Rafah on February 23. Photo: Fatima Shbair / AP / NTB
Satellite images show that the population lives in the dark
Most of the buildings in the Gaza Strip are destroyed or damaged after months of constant Israeli bombing.
Wounded people receive very limited health care. 24 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are completely out of action, the others only function partially and lack both fuel for generators, oxygen, medicines and equipment.
Both the water and electricity supplies have been destroyed. Care has analyzed satellite images that show an 84 per cent decrease in light in the area at night. Gaza’s largest power plant ran out of fuel as early as October.
The case continues below the pictures
The Gaza Strip before the Hamas attack on 7 October and Israel’s subsequent bombing. In January it was almost completely dark. International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS)
– The destruction in the Gaza Strip is so enormous that it is difficult to fathom. It looks bleak for people in the Gaza Strip now – both figuratively and literally, says Kaj-Martin Georgsen, secretary general of CARE Norway.
According to UN measurements on food security, the entire population of Gaza is classified as “IPC phase 3 or higher”. This means that 100 percent of the population in Gaza suffers from food shortages.
– People drink contaminated water. Some have no choice but to eat animal food. Children are dehydrated and sick. More and more people are dying of hunger and diseases that can usually be treated, says Hiba Tibi, director of CARE Gaza and the West Bank.
Have nowhere to run
The 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip are confined to the area. They cannot therefore flee to places where they can get food.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are “one step away” from famine. The situation is so desperate that aid organizations say that it is not possible to distribute food in orderly forms.
There are reports of a breakdown in law and order with attacks on emergency aid convoys by desperate people looking for food and drink, the press release from the Red Cross further states.
– It is a completely impossible situation. The vast majority of those who need help will probably not get the help they need as the situation in Gaza is now, says Bergh.
The extent of the damage in the Gaza Strip is enormous. Almost all buildings are destroyed or damaged. Photo: DYLAN MARTINEZ / Reuters / NTB
Demands investigation into attacks on people trying to get food
There are regular reports of very bloody attacks on the Gaza Strip. 112 Palestinians died and 760 were injured when a convoy of emergency aid trucks arrived on Thursday morning and Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowd, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has acknowledged that soldiers opened fire on the crowd, but claims that most of the victims were trampled to death and run over in the chaos that ensued when a convoy of aid trucks arrived. The incident has led to very strong international reactions, including from Norway, China and Germany.
– The Israeli army must fully investigate how the mass panic and shooting could happen, says German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in a statement on X/Twitter. She calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.
2024-03-04 10:55:59
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