GAZA, Apr 12 (Reuters/AFP): The president of the Red Cross described the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Friday as "hell on earth" and warned that its field hospital will run out of supplies within two weeks.
"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," Mirjana Spoljaric told Reuters at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
No new humanitarian supplies have entered the Palestinian enclave since Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks on Mar 2, as talks stalled on the next stage of a now broken truce. Israel resumed its military assault on Mar 18.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza in the 42 days of the ceasefire and that Hamas had used the aid to rebuild its war machine, an allegation which the group has denied.
Spoljaric said supplies were running 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 said supplies of antibiotics and blood bags were dwindling fast. Twenty-two out of 36 hospitals in the enclave are only minimally functional, Dr Rik Peeperkorn told reporters in Geneva via video link in Jerusalem.
The Red Cross president also raised concern about the safety of humanitarian operations. "It is extremely dangerous for the population to move, but it's especially also dangerous for us to operate," Spoljaric said.
In March, the bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers, including eight members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, were found buried in a mass grave in southern Gaza. The UN and Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of killing them.
The Israeli military said on Monday that an initial investigation showed that the incident occurred "due to a sense of threat" after it said it had identified six Hamas militants in the vicinity.
Spoljaric called for an immediate ceasefire in order to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas and to address grave humanitarian issues in Gaza.
Israel began its military campaign in Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages on a raid into Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 50,800 Palestinians have been killed and much of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
Israeli troops complete takeover
of key south Gaza corridor
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday that the military had completed its takeover of the new Morag Corridor between the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis.
"The IDF (military) has now completed its takeover of the Morag axis, which crosses Gaza between Rafah and Khan Yunis, turning the entire area between the Philadelphi Route and Morag into part of the Israeli security zone," Katz said in a statement.
Hamas expects 'real progress' in
Cairo talks to end Gaza war
Hamas expects "real progress" towards a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, an official said, as senior leaders from the Palestinian movement hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.
The scheduled talks come days after US President Donald Trump suggested an agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza was close to being finalised.
A Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian group anticipated the meeting with Egyptian mediators would yield significant progress.
"We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza," the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
The delegation will be led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, he said.
According to the official, Hamas has not yet received any new ceasefire proposals, despite Israeli media reports suggesting that Israel and Egypt had exchanged draft documents outlining a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
"However, contacts and discussions with mediators are ongoing," he added, accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression" in Gaza.
