GENEVA: Israel’s expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, aimed at conquering Gaza City and targeting the remaining Hamas strongholds in the besieged Palestinian territory, is “intolerable,” the Red Cross said on Thursday.

The Israeli military’s plan, which includes the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, has deepened fears that the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the blockaded coastal strip.

“The intensification of hostilities in Gaza means more killing, more displacement, more destruction and more panic,” Christian Cardon, chief spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP.

“Gaza is a closed space, from which nobody can escape… and where access to health care, food and safe water is dwindling,” said Cardon.

“Meanwhile, the security of humanitarians is getting worse by the hour,” the spokesman added.

“This is intolerable.”

Cardon has taken an active role in the Red Cross’s humanitarian activities on the ground, and has been involved in every exchange of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack.

That attack, which sparked the war in Gaza, resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas, 49 are still held captive in Gaza, including 27 who the Israeli military believes are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military.

AFP