The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, has described the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza as “hell on earth”, warning that the organisation’s field hospital is on the brink of running out of essential supplies within a fortnight.
Speaking to Reuters from the ICRC’s Geneva headquarters on Friday, Spoljaric said: “We are now finding ourselves in a situation that I have to describe as hell on earth …People don’t have access to water, electricity, food, in many parts.”
No humanitarian aid has entered the Gaza Strip since 2 March, when Israel halted the entry of aid trucks following the collapse of ceasefire negotiations. Hostilities resumed on 18 March.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza during the 42-day truce, claiming that Hamas exploited the supplies to rebuild its military capabilities—a claim the group has denied.
Spoljaric stressed that the ICRC’s medical supplies are now critically low. “For six weeks, nothing has come in, so we will, in a couple of weeks’ time, run out of supplies that we need to keep the hospital going,” she said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) echoed these concerns, reporting severe shortages of antibiotics and blood bags. Dr Rik Peeperkorn, speaking from Jerusalem via video link, said only 22 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are minimally operational.
Spoljaric also raised alarm about the growing risks to aid workers. “It is extremely dangerous for the population to move, but it’s especially also dangerous for us to operate,” she said.
In March, the bodies of 15 humanitarian workers—including eight members of the Palestinian Red Crescent—were discovered in a mass grave in southern Gaza. The UN and Red Crescent have accused Israeli forces of being responsible for their deaths.
The Israeli military responded, stating that its preliminary investigation suggested the deaths occurred “due to a sense of threat,” after soldiers reportedly identified six Hamas militants nearby.
Spoljaric urged an immediate ceasefire to allow the release of hostages held by Hamas and to address the dire humanitarian crisis facing civilians in Gaza.