00:00 Well, to talk a bit more then about that humanitarian situation in Gaza, I'm very pleased to be
00:05 joined in the studio by Lucille Mabo. She's a spokesperson for the International Committee
00:09 of the Red Cross. Good afternoon and thanks for coming in. You have teams on the ground
00:14 in Gaza right now, don't you? So what are you hearing from them about the situation
00:18 for civilians, you know, six days into the bombing campaign?
00:22 Well, the situation is absolutely dire. Since a few days, nothing is coming in Gaza, which
00:28 was already the population there was already weakened anyway by 16 years of restrictions
00:34 of movement in goods. So it comes on top of this already very unstable and terrible situation
00:41 for the civilians. Right now, there's no more electricity. The only electricity plant in
00:46 Gaza is no longer working. This means that, for instance, there's some desalinization
00:51 center plants, which also don't function anymore. So there's lack of also clean water for the
00:57 population and lack of electricity. Now there's shortages also in fuel make that hospitals
01:03 who heavily rely now on generators soon won't have any more electricity, any power, which
01:09 means that they won't be able to operate anymore. The war wounded. We have to think also about
01:14 all the other patients they have. Dialysis won't be able to happen anymore. So really,
01:19 if nothing comes in, if electricity isn't switched on again, if there isn't any more
01:24 fuel coming in, hospitals just won't be able to operate. It's going to be a disaster. So
01:29 what the ICRC is calling to now, of course, is for goods to be able to come in, supplies,
01:34 electricity to come back, reminding also the parties that this is an obligation in regard
01:40 to international humanitarian law. Civilians must be able to have access to all their basic
01:45 needs. And that includes, of course, access to health care.
01:48 And tell us about to what extent your staff are able to operate now in Gaza, because I
01:53 know four members of the ICRC have been killed in Gaza since this campaign began. I mean,
01:59 maybe tell us if you can what has happened with them and if you're able to operate, given
02:03 how dangerous it clearly is for your own staff.
02:05 So just as a rectification, it isn't for ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross colleagues
02:09 who have been killed. It's for volunteers from the Palestinian Red Crescent who were
02:14 unfortunately killed while they were trying to carry out their life saving work. And this
02:18 shows to which point it's very difficult for the medical mission to be able to operate
02:23 in this very volatile and dangerous situation. And they need to be able to do that work without
02:28 their lives being in danger. So there again, we remind the parties of the sacredness, let's
02:34 say, of the medical mission and of medical staff to be able to go to where the wounded
02:39 are. And it's actually quite terrible.
02:42 There was also in Israel a volunteer from the Magen David Adom, which is like the Red
02:47 Cross in Israel, who also was killed in doing his mission. For our staff now, for the ICRC,
02:54 we were able in the beginning to give supplies to some hospitals. But now what they're telling
02:58 us is that we do still have supplies in certain warehouses, but we can't access them because
03:03 of the ongoing hostilities. It's just not safe. And if we at some point do reach those
03:09 warehouses where we have, for instance, chlorine, there's some fuel, this can be a drop of help,
03:16 let's say. But if goods don't come back in, if electricity isn't switched back on, it
03:21 won't be enough for all the needs that are growing day by day.
03:26 Indeed. And we know that under international humanitarian law, civilians need to be protected.
03:32 Collective punishment is a crime under international law. From what you're seeing at the moment,
03:37 does it look like those laws are being breached?
03:40 We are in a constant dialogue, which is confidential and bilateral. That's really the way we operate
03:44 in any conflict in the world, is that we are really first going to talk directly to the
03:49 decision makers, directly to the militaries in order to remind them of their legal obligations,
03:55 which as you say, is to spare civilians in civilian infrastructure, everything which
04:00 guarantees basically the livelihood of the civilian population. This is where also, of
04:05 course, asking for assistance to be able to go in, for protection for the health care
04:10 workers. And this dialogue is continuous. It was happening before the escalation of
04:15 violence. And of course, now it's just more continuous than before.
04:19 Now, one really important issue we have to talk about is the fate of hostages that are
04:23 being held in Gaza at the moment. We believe it's about 150 people who are stuck there.
04:28 We know the ICRC has said it's trying to do what it can to perhaps mediate for the hostages.
04:34 I don't know what language you would use, but just explain to us what the ICRC is trying
04:38 to do and how well it's going.
04:40 So from the start, ICRC reminded that taking hostages is illegal under international humanitarian
04:45 law. And the first thing is that they should be released. But we know this is a very political
04:50 issue. Obviously, it would need political will. So what we are offering now is to facilitate
04:58 the release once it may, we hopefully, happen. But before that, we want to go see the hostages
05:04 and see, of course, check on their well-being and be able also to give news to their families
05:10 who have been desperate for news since Saturday. And just to finish, why the ICRC basically
05:17 is that we are neutral intermediary. We have trust and we talk with all the different parties
05:22 in a confidential way, which is reassuring, of course, for them. And this is what puts
05:26 us in a position to be able to facilitate all that. We can't do miracles. It depends
05:31 really on the political will. So we're pushing for it. We hope it's going to happen. But
05:35 this is very sensitive and it's going to take time.
05:38 And just to clarify one thing, you haven't then been able yet to reach those hostages
05:43 and check on their well-being, but you're actively trying to do so. All right. Thank
05:46 you very much, Lucille Mabo, there talking to us from the International Committee of
05:49 the Red Cross. We appreciate it.
