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14-12-2006 ICRC News 15/06 Gaza – ICRC Bulletin No. 15 / 2006 Latest report on ICRC activities in the field General situation The killing of four people, including three children aged six to nine, on 11 December by unidentified gunmen in Gaza City has exacerbated tension in the streets and heightened On 10 December, health-care workers suspended their strike after the Palestinian Authority, agreed to pay two months' back wages. As a result, several hospitals and primary health-care clinics were re-opened. Access to health care in government-run hospitals and clinics has been severely curtailed since August 2006, when staff went on strike to protest the non-payment of wages for six months. Only emergency cases were admitted. The poor, who cannot pay for private care, have been the hardest hit. Restrictions affecting farmers and fishermen Crossing points were open at Sufa (for construction materials), Karni (for commercial traffic in both directions), and Erez (for international workers and humanitarian emergencies). In the central Gaza Strip, fishermen's access to the sea continued to be restricted to a maximum of eight nautical miles from the shore. In the southern Gaza Strip, the maximum distance was three nautical miles. Productivity in the fishing industry dropped as a result. In Nablus and Bethlehem, restrictions on movement were loosened, with the main road between Nablus and the northern West Bank open to traffic for most of the past week. However, lawlessness in Nablus has been on the rise. Although the olive harvest has begun in the Palestinian territories, some farmers have been finding it difficult to access their land near Israeli settlements. In Ramallah district, the Israeli army prevented farmers from tending their olive groves of 500 trees, citing the danger of clashes between Palestinians and settlers.
Continued assistance in the health sector The ICRC continued to supply central medical stores with drugs and disposables, especially in Gaza, to meet an expected increase in demand. It also supported the medical activities of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the second largest Palestinian health-care provider in the territories. Since the strike in the health sector began, the ICRC has been monitoring the situation in government surgical hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank, providing life-saving medicines and disposables to help these hospitals provide essential emergency services. In Bethlehem district, the ICRC rehabilitated six water cisterns in Masarah, supplying 250 people. This project employed a number of Palestinian workers for 60 days. The ICRC also distributed animal feed to 80 beneficiaries in several villages. In Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the ICRC family-visit programme continued, enabling hundreds of Palestinians to visit their relatives held in Israeli places of detention. The ICRC maintained its contacts with the authorities and with various Palestinian groups, and constantly reiterated its request to see the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Through these contacts and its public statements, the ICRC urged those holding the soldier to treat him humanely, to respect his life and dignity, and to allow him to communicate with his family. Since the beginning of 2006, the ICRC has: · visited over 9,200 people held by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities;
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Download Document Files: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/ICRCBulletinNo1506a.pdf https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/ICRCBulletinNo1506f.pdf https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/ICRCBulletinNo1506s.pdf
Document Type: Arabic text, French text, Press Release, Spanish text
Document Sources: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Subject: Assistance, Gaza Strip, Health, Social issues
Publication Date: 14/12/2006