Red Cross warns ‘intolerable suffering’ in Gaza as war enters 'new stage'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As the over 22-day-long Hamas-Israel war enters a “new stage,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warns of the “intolerable suffering” of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced that the fight against Hamas has entered a new phase after tanks and armored vehicles entered the northern Gaza Strip, amid heavy aerial bombardments that have so far killed over 8,000 people, per the enclave’s health ministry that is run by Hamas.

“I am shocked by the intolerable level of human suffering and urge the parties to the conflict to de-escalate now. The tragic loss of so many civilian lives is deplorable,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

The Israeli Defense Forces on Saturday again called on civilians in northern Gaza to flee towards the southern part of the strip, adding the provision of humanitarian aid will be expanded. 

The international organization said the vulnerable population has "no safe place" to go to amid the heavy bombardment that has destroyed thousands of buildings in the densely populated enclave. 

Despite the United Nations resolution on Friday night for a "humanitarian truce," the Israeli forces have intensified their bombardments, claiming that they had targeted several military headquarters and depots that are embedded into "civilian infrastructure," according to Israeli officials. 

Israel has faced severe criticism from a number of rights groups for the massive civilian casualties its bombardment campaigns have created. 

Showing solidarity with Israel, western nations have called on Israel to respond to Hamas’s attacks within the scope of international humanitarian law.

Gaza is a besieged coastal enclave on the easter Mediterranean Sea that has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 after the group ousted the Fatah party following an electoral defeat of the secular party that now controls the West Bank.