The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is ready to provide health assistance to Israel and the Gaza Strip when required, ICRC spokeswoman Fatima Sator told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"On Saturday (October 7), we immediately sent a truck of medical aid (stretchers, beds, body bags) to the hospital in the Gaza Strip, and since then we have delivered additional aid. We are ready to provide additional humanitarian assistance depending on the needs of both sides. We donated 280 body bags and 12 stretchers to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip," Sator said.
The spokeswoman refused to comment on the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel, but recalled that the humanitarian situation in the region was already difficult.
"We have seen that the fragmentation of the territory is making it increasingly difficult for the Palestinians to live a normal life. In the Gaza Strip, severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods, exacerbated by internal Palestinian disputes, are isolating the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world and strangling its economy," Sator said.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale attack on Israel, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day.
On October 9, Israel put the Gaza Strip under full blockade, with no food, gas or electricity supplies. Both Israel and Palestine have so far reported hundreds of dead and thousands of injured as a result of the escalation.