News - Middle East: Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), says she saw “a lack of everything” in the Gaza Strip during a recent trip to the Israeli-bombarded Palestinian territory.  

The ICRC president said on Tuesday that civilians in Gaza were being forced to endure tremendous suffering and loss.
“There is a lack of operational space for the humanitarian actors, but most importantly, there is an acute lack of safety and security for people anywhere in Gaza,” she said.
“There is some aid getting in. There are some trucks coming in but this is by far not enough given the suffering and the level of the needs of the people.”
Spoljaric noted that civilian infrastructure and hospitals are among the prime targets of Israeli bombings and shelling.
“What I saw in the hospital that I visited was a total exhaustion, a density because people are seeking refuge in these hospitals. But what I also saw is a lack of medication, a lack of electricity, a lack of water that is necessary for the hospitals to run,” she said. “But most importantly, decreasing surgical capability given the high number of casualties and wounded people.”
Elsewhere in her remarks, the ICRC president said that her organization was focusing its operations on the hospitals, “on providing medical assistance as much as we can, including through medical teams, surgeons that are there operating around the clock”.