Safety concerns force PRCS to suspend Gaza missions for 48 hours
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The Palestinian Red Crescent has suspended the coordination of medical missions in the Gaza Strip for 48 hours citing safety concerns for its staff.
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A UN delegation visits the PRCS at al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, which has been under siege by Israeli occupation forces for more than a month (X photo, @PalestineRCS)
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has decided to suspend all coordination of medical missions in the Gaza Strip for 48 hours due to the Israeli occupation's failure to respect the coordination made by the United Nations and international organizations, as well as its repeated targeting and arrest of medical personnel.
The PRCS announced that the failure of the IOF to ensure the safety and security of the crew as well as the sick and injured in the PRCS hospitals, centers, and ambulances is what led to the decision.
The PRCS added that it will evaluate the situation during the next two days in order to reach a conclusion that will allow it to protect its crews and vehicles and ensure they are not exposed to the risk of death or injury.
The Society also revealed it would agree on the intervention of active countries in the international community to ensure this protection takes place.
🚑The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams transported injuries caused by the occupation's targeting of a house east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, central #Gaza.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 26, 2024
📷 Filmed by PRCS volunteer: Mohammed Suliman pic.twitter.com/Vq48hVtkjp
Three doctors who are members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) were detained by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the past 24 hours, the medical organization announced on Monday.
While one of them was released, two are still in custody, the organization said in a statement on X. They added that the arrests occurred as they were evacuating 24 injured patients from Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis.
"All medics were forced out of their vehicles and made to sit on the ground, while three of them were detained and taken to an unknown location after being stripped of their clothes. The occupation released one of them after midnight, while the detention of medics Jihad Aslim and Ramadan Ashour has continued since yesterday evening," the statement read.
Despite that the evacuation of the injured was coordinated with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the IOF still maintained the convoy at the roadblock for seven hours, the statement added.
"Despite pre-coordination by the United Nations convoy team and their escort, the occupation obstructed the convoy’s passage for approximately 7 hours at the military checkpoint west of the Al-Amal neighborhood," the statement adds.
"All medics were forced out of their vehicles and made to sit on the ground, while three of them were detained and taken to an unknown location after being stripped of their clothes. The occupation released one of them after midnight, while the detention of medics Jihad Aslim and Ramadan Ashour has continued since yesterday evening," the statement further read.
With prior coordination and accompanied by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams successfully evacuated 24 individuals from Al-Amal Hospital yesterday. Among them were 18 patients and wounded… pic.twitter.com/MLrhYNCRDF
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 26, 2024
As part of "Israel's" genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip, the IOF has committed several crimes of the likes, namely the targeting of NGO staffers and operations, including blocking the entry of aid into the Strip, bombing ambulances, and alleging NGOs of collaborating with resistance forces to initiate a defunding campaign.
On February 18, images surfaced from the PRCS organization, displaying signs of torture inflicted on two Palestinian doctors who were arrested by the IOF earlier this month.
The PRCS explained that the disrespect towards coordination made with the UN and international organizations is not the first and is one of many illegal behaviors perpetrated by "Israel" in its war on Gaza.
The Society called for the IOF to release all medical personnel they arrested, including the Society’s medical and administrative staff working in the field to perform their humanitarian tasks, and to respect the Red Crescent emblem, which is protected by international law, and to respect and protect the legal grounds of the Society, in addition to facilitating its humanitarian mission, which the forces ignore.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society statement renewed its calls to the international community, to oblige the Israeli occupation forces to respect and protect medical personnel and facilities and to provide a safe humanitarian space, which is considered necessary for the survival of Palestinians in Gaza.
"طائرات الاحتلال ومدفعيته لا تزال تستهدف حي الزيتون، جنوب شرق #غزة، بشكل مكثف وعنيف"
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) February 26, 2024
مراسل #الميادين أحمد غانم #فلسطين_المحتلة #طوفان_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/PtK7AB1C0o
Israeli aggression impedes NGO work
At a press briefing held by multiple NGOs earlier this week, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Refugees International, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and other groups, Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, stated that Israeli strikes have made it "virtually impossible" for humanitarian organizations to operate safely within Gaza.
"People, mostly at this point in the north, are already right on the brink of famine," Konyndyk said. "The risk here, if there is not a meaningful humanitarian operation allowed to operate in an unfettered way at scale throughout Gaza, is famine."
"And that famine will occur not because of any natural phenomenon but simply because of the manner in which this war is being conducted and the persistent and intentional denials of humanitarian access principally by the Israeli government."
Konyndyk also highlighted that the idea of safely evacuating the population of Rafah is a "mirage," as there are no other safe destinations available for them.
Documents shared exclusively by the UN and CNN's analysis revealed on February 21 that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire on a UN convoy carrying vital humanitarian aid in central Gaza, eventually blocking the trucks' trajectory to the north, where Palestinians are on the verge of famine.
