Agence France-Presse
Medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross entered Gaza Friday for the first time since the outbreak of war on October 7, a spokeswoman for the organization said.
Six medical staff passed through Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, alongside four other ICRC specialists and six aid trucks.
The organization’s regional director, Fabrizio Carboni, said the convoy was “a small dose of relief, but it’s not enough.”
“Our surgical team and medical supplies will help relieve the extreme pressure on Gaza’s doctors and nurses. But safe, sustained humanitarian access is urgently needed,” he said in a statement.
“This humanitarian catastrophe is deepening by the hour,” Carboni added.
The ICRC’s remarks echo those of the United Nations, which has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
While limited aid has reached the territory in recent days, the population of 2.4 million has been unable to flee the war.
At least 7,326 people have been killed in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory said Friday, and 18,967 have been wounded.
The war with Israel erupted on October 7 after Hamas militants crossed from Gaza and killed around 1,400 people, Israeli officials said.
Most of the casualties in Gaza and Israel have been civilians, according to officials on both sides.
