Statement of the Chairman of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Gaza

According to Mehr News Agency, Miriana Spoliarik, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, called for urgent collective actions by countries to end unbearable suffering in Gaza.

“There is no excuse for what is happening in Gaza,” he wrote in the statement. The severity of human suffering and the violation of human dignity has long been not followed by minimum standards – whether legal or moral. Any minute when the ceasefire is not established, civilians are in danger. The intensity of the suffering that is imposed due to unnecessary wars and the severe shortage of basic needs for survival on civilians is unbearable.

People are killed in the face of conflict and even when trying to find food. Children lose their lives due to lack of food. Families are forced to escape over and over again due to lack of security. The International Committee of the Red Cross has more than 5 employees in Gaza; Many of them are also trying to find enough food and healthy drinking water.

This catastrophe must be completed immediately and definitely. Any political doubt or attempt to justify these catastrophes against the eyes of the international community will forever be judged as a collective failure in the preservation of humanity in war. Governments are obliged to comply with and guarantee humanitarian international law under the Geneva Conventions, including ensuring that the weapons that are transferred will not violate these laws.

According to the Red Crescent Society Information Office, governments need to take further action to adhere to their obligations under humanitarian laws. This means resuming immediate, unobstructed and impartial humanitarian aid throughout Gaza. This means the immediate and unconditional freedom of all the remaining hostages. This means allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume a visit to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The lives of human beings in Gaza must be saved, and this is possible through political courage to guarantee the laws of war and the support they provide for civilians.