We condemn the attacks on the civilian population of Gaza

Človek v ohrození (People in Peril) strongly condemns the brutal attacks on the civilian population, humanitarian and medical workers, as well as the human rights violations taking place in the Gaza Strip.

At least 45 people, mostly women and children, were killed in Sunday’s attack on an IDP camp near Rafah. This brutal attack, which targeted innocent civilians, highlights the toll that this war has been taking for seven months. People are arriving in this camp, fleeing it and seeking safety. This time, they have found their deaths there.

We are sincerely sorry for the loss of every life, and we express our deepest condolences.

According to UN figures, more than 36 000 Palestinians have lost their lives, more than half of whom are women and children. The number of injured has already exceeded 80 000, and thousands more are missing. Up to 17 000 children have been orphaned. More than 1.7 million people have been forced to leave their homes and are now living in temporary shelters, camps or the last habitable buildings. All this has happened, and is still happening, since October in an area approximately the size of Bratislava.

Water and food supplies in the Gaza Strip are scarce and insufficient to meet even a fraction of the basic needs of the civilian population. The same is true of the amount of humanitarian aid that is coming across the border. Up to 80% of the elderly, who have some kind of health problem, do not receive the medicines they need. There is a danger that the people of the Gaza Strip will begin to die en masse as a result of hunger, thirst and common chronic diseases that can be lived with to the full in Slovakia. In order for us, humanitarian organisations, to be able to provide the population with much-needed aid, we need security guarantees and continued access to this population. We call with all urgency for these conditions to be met.

The hundreds of victims among aid workers, medics and journalists are proof that no one is safe in the Gaza Strip today. We therefore call for an immediate halt to the military operations and the bombardments, the consequences of which are being suffered by the civilian population.

Foto: TASR