Red Cross appeals to governments to act now to end Gaza 'horror'

GENEVA, - Governments must act now to stop the horrors in Gaza, the director-general of the Red Cross said on Thursday, adding that the suffering there was reaching a point where it "questions the very foundations of our humanity".

Israel imposed a total blockade of the enclave in March when its devastating military campaign against Hamas resumed after a ceasefire in the 19-month long war.

Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors on Thursday due to a lack of supplies, closing off a lifeline used by hundreds of thousands of people and raising fears of further malnutrition-related deaths.

"Here is a moment of decision for states and for world actors and for parties to not allow this horror to continue uninterrupted," Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross Pierre Kraehenbuehl told reporters in Geneva.

"Everybody should feel deep indignation about what is happening in Gaza," he said, without attributing blame.

"I can't reconcile myself with the human cost of this conflict and frankly if this is the future of warfare, we should all be terrified."

"We should all be aware that this questions the very foundations of our humanity," he added.

The ICRC has already warned that its humanitarian response is on the verge of collapse in Gaza and Kraehenbuehl said on Thursday that the next few days would be "absolutely decisive".

"There's a moment when we will run out of everything that’s left," he said.

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