CGTN Europe interviewed Hisham Mhanna, spokesperson for the ICRC in Gaza Strip.
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00:00Hesham Hanna is from International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza.
00:04Hesham, great to see you there.
00:05So can you give us an overview of the humanitarian situation in Gaza right now?
00:12Hello Thinh Hoang, thank you for having me.
00:14It's very difficult has become to describe the level of deterioration in the humanitarian situation.
00:21Every day civilians face new challenges in Gaza.
00:26They vary from the hostilities, the explosions,
00:29trying to find proper shelter amidst the shortage in the basic supplies for sheltering,
00:35food, proper health care.
00:37And now everything has compounded by the rain and the dropping temperatures.
00:42We have witnessed horrific scenes where people living in ruined tents
00:47submerged with the rainfall and sewage water,
00:51destroying whatever belonging they have and end up,
00:55and putting them in face of new challenge to move again to a safer area, which is hard to find.
01:02And the ICRC had a statement earlier saying that the repeated hostilities in and around the hospitals
01:08have obliterated the health care system in Gaza.
01:13So what's the current state of medical facilities and the immediate challenges right now?
01:19Well, the ICRC, the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned against reaching this far.
01:25After months of non-stop hostilities in and around hospitals,
01:29particularly in the northern governorate of Gaza,
01:32the situation of the health care system now is very much destroyed
01:40and even beyond being operational again.
01:44Two out of three hospitals in Gaza are now completely inoperable
01:48and the only remaining hospital in the northern governorate,
01:51allowed the hospital previously supported by the ICRC,
01:54is now barely functional and provide the basic health care services for civilians who remain in that governorate.
02:04For the past several weeks, the first responders could not reach civilians in need in the northern governorate.
02:11People had to carry the injured and the sick over their shoulders or carts dragged by donkeys
02:18to reach them or to get them to the hospitals that are barely functioning
02:22and have been so much under severe restrictions and shortage of the basic needs.
02:28Hospitals, on the other hand, in Gaza City,
02:31the very few hospitals that are also partially functioning cannot absorb any more pressure
02:36of the casualties being transferred from the northern governorate into the Gaza City.
02:41The ICRC has supported medical evacuations in the previous weeks
02:45from these hospitals in the north to hospitals that are better equipped in Gaza City
02:50upon the request in coordination with the authorities in both Gaza and Israel.
02:55We remain committed to supporting the health care system in Gaza.
02:58However, much more must and can be done immediately.
03:04And the heavy rains and cold weather must have made your work more difficult.
03:08And what are the obstacles your team are facing on the ground?
03:11And what would you like to say to the international community on the first day of 2025?
03:18The ICRC teams have been supporting civilians and actors in Gaza Strip
03:23to prevent the deterioration in the humanitarian situation.
03:29When it comes to winterization, the ICRC supported the distribution of non-food item kits,
03:36including tarpaulin, blankets, some protein bars for thousands of families.
03:43However, this has never been enough because simply civilians continue to be subject to new evacuation orders
03:52and whatever is over their heads, tents or plastic sheets, worn out because of the last summer,
04:00cannot prevent the risk of flooding.
04:03We have also supported the opening of the drainage system
04:06and prevent the risk of flooding from the water and wastewater facilities.
04:12This is never enough.
04:15The humanitarian solution can never be the only solution.
04:18Only political solutions can put an end to this catastrophic scene witnessed over 15 months in Gaza Strip.