Geneva - A specialist medical team from the International
Committee of the Red Cross has been unable to enter the Gaza Strip for
the past three days, a spokeswoman for the organization said Sunday.
The team, comprised of two doctors and two nurses, was supposed to
enter the enclave on Friday to help the local Palestinian medical
staff, who were 'exhausted' and having trouble coping with the massive
influx of injured people, she said.
Many of the wounds were complicated, requiring outside medical
expertise, the spokeswoman said. The team was 'badly needed' and their
presence in Gaza was 'essential.'
The Geneva-based ICRC had tried to get the team in last week as
there were concerns that Israel might launch a ground operation, which
indeed began Saturday night. Since the troops moved in, movement of
aid workers has been severely restricted owing to security concerns.
The Red Cross said that they had initially been denied entry, a
decision which was later reversed, but as Israel kept the Erez
Crossing closed the medics remained locked out.
The ground operation began after a week-long aerial campaign by
Israel's air-force. The Palestinian death toll has exceeded 460
people, about a quarter of them estimated by the United Nations to be
civilians. Four Israelis, including three civilians, were killed by
Palestinian rocket fire in the same period.
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