The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Tuesday that cutting off food, water, and fuel from the Gaza strip is a collective punishment of over two million civilians that could lead to a humanitarian crisis.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the PRCS expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by Israeli air raids on civilians and medical personnel.
It added that Israeli forces are in violation of the international humanitarian law through targeting the civilian population and completely destroying infrastructure in some areas of the Gaza Strip and obstructing the Society's ability to carry out its humanitarian mission.
It considers the Israel's threat to impose a total blockade on Gaza "extremely worrying", as humanitarian organizations are struggling due to a lack of essential supplies, which is a direct result of "this unlawful siege."
The PRCS has alone documented 23 violations against its medical staff since Saturday, including the injury of 5 of its ambulance crews, one of whom is in critical condition and damage to 6 ambulances, the Society’s head office in the northern Gaza Strip, and the emergency room at its headquarters in southern Gaza, which all resulted from the continuous indiscriminate bombing by the occupation forces.
In the occupied West Bank, the PRCS recorded 16 violations, including targeting ambulances with live fire, threatening or detaining medical staff, and preventing or obstructing access to those in need of emergency medical aid.
The Society is urging an end to Israel's impunity for war crimes, requesting safe access for medical and humanitarian crews to reach the sick and wounded, calling for immediate intervention to stop the crisis and put an end to the 16-year siege on Gaza, and demanding a safe corridor for fuel, basic materials and injured people.