Pascal Hundt, head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Gaza Strip, discussed the dire humanitarian situation in the territory. With Israel threatening to launch a military offensive into Rafah, a city bordering Egypt, where 1.3 million displaced persons are currently sheltering, the situation is increasingly precarious. The local Hamas-run Ministry of Health has reported that more than 29,000 Gazans have died since October 7, 2023.
No. We have already had two security incidents, as has the United Nations and 14 Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers have been killed. We can all see that the security guarantees we get are not enough; it's becoming more and more difficult for aid workers to do their jobs. Recently, the roads have been impassable. There is still fighting. The ICRC is not providing food aid – which is what people need most in the North today.
Massive aid is needed for the whole of the Gaza Strip: without it, nervous, starving crowds will continue to loot convoys. We talked to fathers and mothers who were crying because they saw trucks passing by and had nothing left to feed their children. Not even two hundred trucks pass through Rafah [crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip] every day: that's one truck for every 10,000 people. It's like supporting a small town with just one semi-truck a day.
Superlatives fail us: we are horrified. When Rafah was bombed on February 12, between 50 and 70 people died in less than an hour. A large-scale military operation there would be an absolute disaster. There is talk of yet another population displacement. If people are going to leave, they need to have somewhere to feel safe – that doesn't exist in the Gaza Strip today. Then they must have water, food and access to healthcare. The health system has collapsed in the Gaza Strip. In Rafah, there are still one or two functioning hospitals.
Under international humanitarian law, people can be displaced for security reasons, but the displacement must be temporary. Today, entire areas of Gaza City have been razed to the ground, entire neighborhoods of Khan Younis as well... If the same fate were to befall Rafah, what would be the prospects for Palestinians in Gaza: living in a tent for 10 years?
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