Palestinian health minister appeals to Red Cross to press Israel to stop attacking Gaza

By Anadolu staff

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila sent an urgent distress call on Sunday to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to press Israel to stop its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The move came as she held an emergency meeting with the ICRC’s delegate in Jerusalem and its health affairs coordinator.

"Hundreds of patients and wounded are threatened with death at any moment as a result of the bombing and besieging of hospitals, the power outage, the running out of fuel, medicines and medical supplies, and the lack of the minimum necessities of life in them," Al-Kaila said according to a Health Ministry statement on Facebook.

She reviewed "the catastrophic health situation in the Gaza Strip and the attacks on the health system, where 23 hospitals out of 35 have completely stopped working and the occupation forces are besieging many hospitals and preventing entry or exit from them for medical staff, paramedics and patients."

Al-Kaila said that "citizens in the Gaza Strip are living in tragic health conditions, as there is no safe place and there are no conditions for survival such as water, food, safety and healthcare. On top of that are the Israeli bombings which have led to the deaths of more than 11,000 people, the wounding of 27,000 citizens, and the loss of about 3,000 more.”

She once again called on all international and human rights institutions and organizations to "stand up to their responsibilities in order to stop the Israeli aggression and immediately allow the entry of health support and fuel to hospitals and allow patients to go for treatment outside the Gaza Strip, as well as the entry of volunteer medical teams into the Gaza Strip as well as water and food."

Israel has been carrying out relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip -- including on hospitals, residences and houses of worship -- since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Since then, the number of deaths in the ongoing Israeli attacks has surpassed 11,100, including more than 8,000 women and children, the government media office in Gaza said on Sunday.

The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,200, according to official figures.