Skip to main content
Advertise Buy the paper Contact us Shop Subscribe Support us
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calls on warring groups to respect its neutrality

THE International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has called on state forces and combatants to respect its neutrality and avoid obstructing its work of delivering humanitarian help to the most destitute in war zones and other high-risk areas.

The federation said that 24 of its aid workers had been killed so far this year, mostly in the Gaza Strip.

IFRC president Kate Forbes, who is visiting the Philippines, said in a statement posted on X on Thursday that Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics Haitham Tubasi and Suhail Hassouna had become the latest aid workers to be killed when their ambulance was hit on Wednesday in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

“I am heartbroken. This is not OK. This must stop,” she wrote.

Ms Forbes said governments should act responsibly and abide by the rules of armed conflict, including the Geneva conventions.

“My appeal to the governments would be, if your signatures are in the Geneva conventions, abide by them,” she insisted.

“If those are being enforced, we can do our work even in high-conflict zones or disasters.

“We are neutral. We’re here to give aid. That’s our job.”

Ms Forbes joined growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and humanitarian aid access to the devastated Palestinian territory, saying that this was “absolutely imperative” to ease the horrific sufferings of civilians trapped by the seven-month conflict.

“We have to have a government solution to get a ceasefire so that we can get access and then we will give aid to both sides,” she stressed.

“I’ve said this is both a sprint and a marathon. We need to get aid in Gaza immediately for people who have malnutrition. There’s not adequate sanitation.”

More from this author
World / 28 November 2024
28 November 2024
World / 28 November 2024
28 November 2024
Britain / 28 November 2024
28 November 2024
More than 60 signatories urge Foreign Minister to sanction Israel in line with ICC and ICJ
Features / 27 November 2024
27 November 2024
As the massive debt burden continues to bite and the climate emergency worsens, the world’s developing countries must escape the abusive relationship of debt enslavement that is holding them back, says ROGER McKENZIE