'Again and again humanitarian workers not respected' in Gaza, IFRC spokesman says

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00:00The bodies of 8 Red Crescent medics and other Palestinian rescue workers who came under

00:06fire from Israeli forces more than a week ago have been recovered from a mass grave

00:12in the sand in southern Gaza.

00:14The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said their remains had been discarded

00:19in a shallow grave, describing their treatment as a profound violation of human dignity.

00:25For more, we're joined now by Tomasso Della Longa, he's the spokesperson for the International

00:30Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

00:34Tomasso, thanks so much for being with us on the programme, obviously it's been a very

00:39difficult few days for you and the associations that you represent.

00:45This incident that we're speaking about was the single most deadly attack on Red Cross

00:49Red Crescent workers anywhere since 2017.

00:53What more do you know about what actually happened, there is still one person unaccounted

00:57for.

00:58Yeah, first of all, thanks for having me this evening Sharon.

01:01Well, what we know is that we still don't know where the ninth colleague of the Palestine

01:07Red Crescent is at the moment.

01:09So we are still asking for more information about what happened to him.

01:14And what we know is that again and again in the conflict in Gaza, humanitarian workers

01:21are not respected.

01:24And last Sunday, so a week ago, our colleagues, basically they were doing what they are supposed

01:31to do, save lives, attend wounded, they came under fire and we lost contact for an entire

01:36week.

01:37And Palestine Red Crescent, UN, as we asked for information, for access to understand

01:42what has happened, and yesterday this dramatic end, what we are seeing now with the retrieval

01:48of the bodies.

01:49And of course, this is, I mean, we strongly condemned it and it was really shocking for

01:53all of us because the Red Crescent emblems should be protected by everyone.

01:59Yes, and you say that aid workers in Gaza, they're not being respected, but is there

02:04evidence in your view that they're actually being deliberately targeted by Israel?

02:09You know, this is a very good question and there are organizations that by mandate have

02:15to investigate in all of these.

02:17Our first priority is to maintain access to the communities that we serve.

02:22But what I can say is that since the beginning of the conflict, we lost 30 colleagues of

02:27Palestine Red Crescent, the vast majority in Gaza, some also in West Bank.

02:32And this is the icon of where the conflict has arrived.

02:35And I also wanted to point out two things.

02:37First is that what, I mean, the people that we are seeing here in the Red Vest are not

02:41only humanitarian workers, are fathers, are friends, brothers, sisters, children.

02:47They are part of the community that they serve and they are affecting themselves.

02:52And they should be respected and protected during a conflict because even war has rules.

02:59And the second part that I want to highlight is that when you kill a humanitarian worker,

03:05when an ambulance is destroyed, it means that the entire communities are weakened and the

03:09entire communities will not get the support they need.

03:12And of course, this is unacceptable, even more in a situation like Gaza, that is absolutely

03:17catastrophic.

03:18And these people, of course, they're risking their lives to help people who are most in

03:22need in Gaza, 400 aid workers killed since the start of the war.

03:27How dangerous is it for people working on the ground inside the enclave?

03:33It's extremely dangerous.

03:34And sadly, what we saw in the footage that you've shown and the news of yesterday with

03:41these eight bodies retrieved, it's a clear sign that it's extremely dangerous.

03:46What is really hurting all of us is that, again, rules of war.

03:51And we take for granted for many, many years that these emblems mean protection, not only

03:59for the humanitarian workers, but also for the patients that we attend, for the civilians

04:03that are around us.

04:05And actually, what we are seeing is this trend of disregarding of the respect of these rules.

04:10And this is really shocking, sad.

04:13But also this means that we'll have to continue to work with the parties, with the government,

04:18with every stakeholder to make sure that our women and men are really protected while they're

04:23saving lives.

04:24And how concerned are you by the fact that Israel has ordered residents to evacuate Rafah,

04:29suggesting perhaps that it could be returning to ground fighting there?

04:33Just how difficult is the humanitarian situation in Gaza at the moment?

04:37And where are these people going to go exactly, who are being told to leave again?

04:43Thanks a lot for this question.

04:44I think that is very important.

04:46Look, what we are seeing in Gaza, it's simply catastrophic.

04:52I mean, if you take out the six weeks of ceasefire, where of course something positive have happened

04:57in terms of field hospital opening, humanitarian entry, now has been 18 months of solidated

05:03months of conflict, where people have been displaced six, seven, eight, nine, ten times

05:11overnight.

05:12So sometimes just these orders arrive and people have to leave.

05:16But then what is important to remember is that civilians must be protected in every

05:20situation.

05:21Even if they refuse to leave, civilians must be protected.

05:25And then now we are looking at the longest period since the beginning of the conflict

05:30without any entrance of humanitarian aid.

05:32So we are talking about difficulties with food, with water, with health.

05:37Just to give an example, half of the ambulances of the palace are not anymore working.

05:42Some of them, of course, because we're damaged by the war, as we saw a few minutes ago.

05:47But most of them is because they don't have any more fuel, because fuel is not entering

05:50inside the Gaza Strip.

05:52So it's clear that even the health system, if medicine and medical equipments and fuel

05:56are not entering, will collapse sooner.

05:58And of course, again, this is unacceptable.

06:01But what is really frustrating that we have been repeating the same messages for 18 months,

06:06but this is again and again the situation that we're facing.

06:09Tomaso, thanks so much for being with us on the programme.

06:12We'll have to leave it there for now.

06:13That is Tomaso Della Lunga, he's spokesperson for the International Federation of the Red

06:17Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

06:19Thanks so much.

06:21Thank you very much.

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