“Large caliber” gunfire damaged the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday evening.
The death toll is at least 22 dead and 45 injured.
The organization calls for “all possible precautions” to be taken to avoid loss of life.
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Gaza continues to count its dead. Shootings “large caliber” damaged the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced people. The strikes killed 22 people and 45 others were injured, according to information provided by the organization on the social network X.
“This incident caused a massive influx of victims to the nearby Red Cross field hospital” Who “received 22 dead and 45 wounded”, writes the ICRC, which denounces “numerous serious incidents” of these last days “which endanger the lives of humanitarians and civilians.
“The incident is under investigation”
The Ministry of Health of the government of the Gaza Strip, territory ruled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, reported 25 dead and 50 injured, accusing the Israelis of having “targeted the tents of displaced civilians in Al-Mawasi”, area in the south of the Gaza Strip, near Rafah.
For his part, an Israeli army spokesperson told AFP that‘”an initial investigation suggests that there is nothing to indicate that a strike was carried out by the IDF (Israeli army, editor’s note) in the humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi” and ensures that “The incident is under investigation.”
“Stray bullets have already hit ICRC structures”
According to the ICRC, the shooting “Large caliber guns landed a few meters from the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday afternoon.” The organization also points out that it is about “one of the many serious security incidents that have occurred in recent days. Stray bullets have already hit ICRC structures.”
In its press release, the ICRC emphasizes that “Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures, the location of which is known to parties to the conflict and which are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, endangers the lives of civilians and Red Cross personnel”. And returns to the obligation of the parties to take “all possible precautions” to prevent loss of life among the civilian population, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects, including humanitarian installations.
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