A convoy carrying 60 tons of aid and medical supplies had been mobilized and is awaiting permission to enter the Gaza Strip, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement on Wednesday. A four-person surgical team including a chief surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, an anesthetist, and a theatre nurse are on standby to support the overwhelmed hospitals in the Gaza Strip to cope with the influx of the wounded. The ICRC chief surgeon Tom Potokar said: “It’s critically important to deploy. We all know the situation is very bad. There are a huge number of wounded people and a lot of displaced people and the ICRC has a role in helping these people in their suffering. The situation this time is much more difficult. There are far bigger numbers in terms of the people injured. The humanitarian crisis that is unfolding is on a much bigger scale.” The recent violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is at a level that the ICRC has not witnessed in many years, the statement added. In Gaza, hospitals are on the brink of collapse, electricity is running out and people have little food or water. The level of humanitarian needs created by the violence requires sustained humanitarian relief, it indicated.

Source: Jordan News Agency