Disastrous Humanitarian situation unfolds in West Bank

Jenin - ICRC delegates and Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances are on standby for the third day running at the entrance to Jenin camp, ready to evacuate the wounded and dead as soon as permission is given to go in, which is so far not the case.

The curfew was lifted for a few hours in parts of Jenin, but not in the area where the government hospital and camp are located.

The situation in the government hospital is critical. There is no water, and very little electricity. What there is comes from a small generator, which was transported into Jenin by the ICRC two days ago. This allows the blood bank to operate, but leaves no spare capacity to run the refrigeration unit in the morgue where corpses are decomposing. With the curfew in place, it is also not possible to transport bodies to the cemetery for burial. ICRC delegates managed to bring in blood, together with food for the patients and some medical supplies.

Conditions elsewhere in the town appear to be equally appalling with people crying out for bread.

Ramallah - curfew was lifted for a few hours during the afternoon, people rushed out to buy emergency provisions while children played in the streets. After two days of negotiations with the Israeli civil administration, PRCS ambulances were able to transport four children who needed blood transfusions from three isolated villages to Ramallah hospital.

It is planned to facilitate the delivery of locally-donated food to Atara village today.

ICRC facilitated the transport of medical supplies from the Ministry of Health (MOH) warehouse in Ramallah to hospitals in Hebron, Gaza and Jenin.

Five hundred units of blood were taken from the Ramallah blood bank to Jerusalem, for onward distribution to Beit Jala hospital outside Bethlehem today, and to other hospitals on the West Bank, according to their storage capacity and need.

Bethlehem - ICRC delegates and field hospitals distributed locally-donated food parcels of rice, sugar, oil, and tinned goods to 200 extremely vulnerable families, living in the closed area around Manger square. Residents begged the team to bring in more supplies, especially milk for babies.

Blood will be delivered to Beit Jala hospital on today.

Nablus - ICRC coordinated with the authorities for the transport of oxygen to four hospitals around the town. Urgently needed medicines were delivered from the MOH warehouse in Nablus to the field hospital in the old city mosque, where there are no longer any wounded, but still many sick persons.

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