A humanitarian convoy came under fire in Gaza City on Tuesday while on its way to deliver supplies to a hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
“These are not the conditions under which humanitarian personnel can work,” William Schomburg, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza, said in a statement, without saying who fired at the convoy.
“We are here to bring urgent assistance to civilians in need. Ensuring that vital aid can reach medical facilities is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law,” Schomburg said.
The ICRC said the convoy of five trucks and two vehicles was carrying supplies to health facilities, including Al-Quds Hospital. One driver was lightly wounded, and two trucks were damaged.
The convoy changed its route and was able to continue to Al-Shifa Hospital, where it delivered the supplies. It then accompanied six ambulances transporting critically wounded patients to the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
A U.N.-run school in northern Gaza was also directly hit in the past day, killing one displaced person, who was among the 5,500 sheltering there, and injuring nine others.
Meanwhile, relief supplies have trickled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since Israel began allowing limited aid on October 21. The United Nations said just more than 500 trucks with food, water and medical supplies but no fuel have entered since Israel’s siege was eased. That is about equal to the number that crossed in a single day before hostilities erupted on October 7.
One month on from Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, which killed 1,400 people and saw 240 others abducted, Israel’s military offensive against Hamas has claimed more than 10,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Women and children bear war’s brunt
The ICRC said that civilians in Gaza and Israel are being forced to endure tremendous suffering and loss and that it needs to stop.
“Among the most shocking impact is the agony children have had to bear,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric. “Children have been ripped from their families and held hostage. In Gaza, ICRC surgeons treat toddlers whose skin is charred from widespread burns. What more must children endure?”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal Tuesday for the release of the hostages and for a humanitarian cease-fire.
The U.N. Population Fund says there are 50,000 pregnant women and about 5,500 newborns in Gaza, but, so far, they have been allowed to send in only two truckloads of maternity supplies.
“If you have 180 women giving birth every day under these conditions, food, water, medicines, the access to caesarean sections and to care for the newborn depend on fuel,” UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem told reporters.
She said that pregnant and lactating women also need more water than other people, and that it must be clean and safe.
Israel has prohibited fuel from entering Gaza, saying Hamas is hoarding fuel for military purposes and will divert any new supplies brought in. But humanitarians stress it is needed for hospitals to operate lifesaving machines, including incubators for premature babies and for desalination plants and bakeries.
“These supplies save lives. They are vital,” Kanem said. “The fact is that life goes on even during conflict, and we do owe it to these women to be there for them during the time of pregnancy and childbirth.”
