Red Cross warns against attacks on civilians in Gaza, Israel

Jan 5, 2009, 13:54 GMT

Geneva - Civilians in both the Gaza Strip and southern Israel were suffering due to the ongoing conflict, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.

'We are concerned about the safety of civilians,' said Dorothea Krimitsas in Geneva.

Well over 500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began an aerial offensive on December 27, with a quarter of them estimated to be civilians. Five Israelis, three of whom were civilians, have been killed by rocket attacks.

The ICRC warned against using 'indiscriminate weapons which by their nature cannot distinguish between military objectives and civilians' and added that international law prohibited military objectives in densely populated areas.

'I stress the need to protect medical personnel and medical facilities,' Krimitsas said, asking that 'all possible measures' be taken 'so that (medics) can perform their activities without hindrance.'

Hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in Gaza have been damaged in the military operation, the international aid agency said.

Since Israel began its ground operation on Saturday, movement of aid workers and humanitarian vehicles has become more restricted, owing to concerns for staff safety.

A Palestinian paramedic was killed when an Israeli shell hit a civilian ambulance inside the enclave, the charity Oxfam said Sunday. Two others from the medical team were injured.

The ICRC said its team of war surgeons and nurses, waiting since Friday, was still unable to get into the Gaza Strip as Israel kept the Erez Crossing closed for security reasons.