International
Gaza became worse than hell on Earth, said the head of the International Red Cross Committee before the BBC.
In an interview at the headquarters of the ICC in Geneva, the president of the organization Misha Spoldzharich said “humanity fails” while observing the horrors of the war in Gaza.
Speaking in a room close to a case showing the MCC's three Nobel Prizes, I asked G -Ja Spoljaric about the remarks that she made in April that Gaza was “hell on the ground” and if something had happened, as it would change its decision.
“It got worse … We can't continue to observe what's going on. It surpasses every acceptable, legal, moral and humane standard. The level of destruction, the level of suffering.
“More importantly, the fact that we are observing a people entirely devoid of their human dignity. This really has to shock our collective conscience.”
She added that countries need to do more to end the war, to end the suffering of the Palestinians, and to release the Israeli hostages.
The words clearly selected to the ICC President carry a moral burden.
The International Red Cross is a global humanitarian organization that has been working to alleviate suffering in wars for more than a century and a half.
He is also the guardian of the Geneva Conventions, and the body of international humanitarian law is intended to regulate war and to defend civilians and other non-bellows. The most version, the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, was adopted after World War II and is intended to stop the mass murder of civilians to happen again.
ReutersIsrael, I reminded her, justifies her actions in Gaza as self -defense.
“Every country has the right to defend itself,” she said.
“And every mother has the right to see how their children come back. There is no excuse for hostage admission. There is no excuse to deprive the children of their access to food, health and security. There are rules in conducting hostilities that every country to every conflict must observe.”
Did this mean that the actions of Hamas and other armed Palestinians on October 7, 2023 – killed about 1200 and took more than 250 hostages – did not justify the destruction of Israel by the Gaza Strip and the murder of more than 50,000 Palestinians?
“This is not an excuse for the disrespect or carved by the Geneva Conventions. None of the parties are allowed to violate the rules, no matter what is important, because, look, the same rules apply to every human being according to the Geneva Convention. A child in Gaza has exactly the same protection according to the Geneva Convention as a child in Israel.”
You never know, add G -ja spoljaric when your own child may be on the softer side and will need these protection.
ICRC is a reliable source of information about what is happening in Gaza. Israel does not allow international news organizations, including the BBC, to send journalists to the territory. The reporting of over 300 Gaza MC employees, 90% of whom are Palestinians, is a vital part of the war record.
G -Ja Spoljaric, the President of the ICC, speaks every day with the head of their team in Gaza. The ICC Surgical Hospital in Rafa is the closest medical facility to the area where many Palestinians were killed during the distribution of chaotic assistance by Israeli and US-supported Foundation for the Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Like the UN, ICRC is not involved in the new operation. The main disadvantage of the new system is that it reflects tens of thousands of desperate, starving civilians through an active war zone.
The spoljaric said that “there is no excuse to change and violate something that works with something that does not seem to work.”
Over the last few days, ICRC surgical teams at their field hospital in Rafa near the GHF area have been buried at least twice as the volume of victims in disorders of food surgery.
“It's not safe anywhere in gas. Nowhere. Not for civilians, not for hostages,” said G -ja spoljaric. “This is a fact. And our hospital is not safe. I do not remember another situation where I have seen where we work in the hostilities.”
A few days ago, a young boy was hit by a bullet coming through the tent tissue while he was treated.
“We have no security even for our own staff … They work 20 hours a day. They are exhausted themselves. But that's too much, it goes beyond human opportunities.”
The ICC said that in just a few hours on Tuesday morning, Rafah's surgical teams received 184 patients, including 19 people killed on arrival and eight others who died from their wounds shortly after. It was the largest number of victims of an incident at the field hospital, as it was created just over a year ago.
It happened around the dawn on Tuesday. The Palestinian Witnesses and ICC medics have reported terrible scenes of murder, as Israeli troops have opened fire to Palestinians who are coming closer to the place of distribution of the new aid in South Gaza. It was a “total carnage” according to a foreign witness.
An official statement of the Israeli military described a completely different picture. It says that “several suspects” move to the Israeli forces, “diverting from the designated access routes.” The troops “made a warning fire … Additional shots were directed near several individual suspects that advanced to the troops.”
A military spokesman said they were investigating the incident. He denied firing Palestinians in a similar incident on Sunday.
Ghetto imagesThe spoljaric said that the ICC is deeply concerned about the conversations about winning at all costs, the general war and the dehumanization.
“We see things happen that will make the world a more incapable place, far beyond the region, far beyond the Israelis and the Palestinians, because we carve the rules themselves that protect the fundamental rights of every human being.”
If there is no termination of fire, it is afraid of the future of the region.
“This is vital. To keep a path back to peace for the region. If you destroy this time forever forever, the region will never find safety and security. But now we can stop it. It's not too late.”
“State leaders are obliged to act. I urge them to do something and do more and to do what they can. As it will resolve, it will pursue them, it will reach their doorstep.”
MCC is considered the guardian of the Geneva Conventions. The fourth, agreed after World War II, is intended to defend civilians in the wars.
Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 were, she said, without justification for current events.
“None of the parties are allowed to violate the rules, no matter what,” said G -ja Spoljaric.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross -border attack, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.
At least 54 607 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 4,335 since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, according to the health ministry in the territory.
As she approached the countries to stop the hostilities, she said: “We cannot continue to watch what is happening.
“This disproves humanity. It will pursue us.”
She called on the international community to do more. “Every country is under the obligation to use its funds, their calm funds, to help the reversed what is happening in Gaza today,” she said.