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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.