Zionist Regime threatens Even the Red Cross with an Ultimatum in Gaza. WHO chief says 237 Attacks on Healthcare
Introduction by Carlo Domenico Cristofori
WHO chief says 237 attacks on healthcare verified in Middle East since October 7
As many as 237 attacks on the healthcare system have been verified in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict zone since October 7, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing, as reported by TASS Russian News Agency.
“So far, WHO has verified 237 attacks on healthcare, including 218 in the occupied Palestinian territory and 19 in Israel. Attacks on healthcare are a violation of international humanitarian law,” he pointed out.
Ghebreyesus said he was “running out of words to describe the horror unfolding in Gaza.”
The WHO chief noted that since October 7, over 10,000 people had been killed, including over 8,500 in Gaza and 1,400 in Israel. More than 21,000 people have suffered wounds. Fourteen out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are non-functional.
Israel issues ultimatum to Red Cross
Originally published by Russia Today
Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has criticized what he called the “unbalanced focus” of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), amid the IDF’s offensive in Gaza. He also blasted the Geneva-based aid group for failing to rescue Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
“The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages being held captive by the Hamas,” Cohen said in a telephone conversation on Wednesday with ICRC director Miriana Spolijaric, according to a summary released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Israel has said that about 240 of its citizens were seized by Hamas in its October 7 cross-border raid, most of whom remain unaccounted for in the besieged Palestinian enclave, which has been targeted with massive retaliatory strikes by the IDF for several weeks.
“The Red Cross must act decisively and with a clear voice and utilize all leverage it has to push for a visit to the hostages as soon as possible,” Cohen said, according to the transcript, noting that “children, women and Holocaust survivors” are among the captives.
Cohen accused the aid organization of showing an “unbalanced focus” on Israel throughout the conflict. “The Red Cross’ reputation is at stake if it cannot secure a visit to those being held captive by Hamas,” he said.
The international aid organization says it ‘cannot force its way through bombs’ to visit the hostages held by Hamas
The Red Cross defended its work on Thursday, with spokesperson Alyona Synenko telling NPR that “when the bombs continue to fall, it is also impossible for our teams to do their jobs.”
“For us it is a priority to get access and to visit all the hostages. The amount of suffering they endure is also unimaginable. We have been constantly calling on the Hamas authorities to give us access so that we can provide medicine, that we can give news to the families of the hostages.”
“We cannot do that unless we are given the needed humanitarian space and the access to be able to do our job,” Synenko said. “We cannot force our way through bombs. We just need all the parties to show goodwill and also to respect their obligation under the international humanitarian law.”
The Red Cross, which has been involved in supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza, has also cautioned Israel over civilian casualties – however, Cohen claimed that Israel “is bound by international law and acts in accordance with it.”
Putin: “Innocent Children Annihilated: Gaza Horror can’t be Justified”
Palestinian officials say that more than 9,000 people have so far been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza, and that about 70% of those killed are children, women and the elderly.
Originally published by Russia Today
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