Sarah I’m sure you’ve been in touch with your colleagues in Gaza what has been their reaction to that announcement that there will be Aid on the way hopefully as early as tomorrow food waterer and medical supplies yes uh of course as you say we have been in in very close contact with
Our our colleagues in Gaza uh to understand what’s happening on the ground what they’re seeing uh and we of course at the international Committee of the Red Cross we welcome any uh negotiation any decision that will allow this desperately needed Aid uh to to enter Gaza and begin to support the
Civilians uh who have been so heavily impacted uh by these armed hostilities we know how much of an urgency there is to get help to those people it is 20 trucks and there are hundreds of trucks filled waiting to get in how much of a difference actually can 20 truck loads
Make uh depending on that contents of course it’s a it’s a great start this is a very good start but what we need to see is a sustained flow of humanitarian Aid and humanitarian suppliers to enter we know that hundreds of thousands of people have relocated to the southern
Area of Gaza uh a lot of these people have medical needs they were not able to carry a lot of items with them they really could only take what they could carry in their bare hands uh people have been sleeping on the side of the road uh on the pavement they really desperately
Require a sustainable solution uh to the the humanitarian crisis that we are seeing right the condition that Joe Biden announced was this that Aid any Aid will stop if it ends up in the hands of Hamas if that happens the aid will stop how can you ensure that that will not
Happen so at the international Committee of the Red Cross our concern our main focus is the civilian population of course all of the supplies that we send in be they medical supplies or wherever they are coming from uh they are we welcome any checks to them anything that
Would move the process of getting Aid into Gaza a lot our concern is that the civilian population hundreds of thousands of people need this humanitarian Aid they need medical supplies they need food need water immediately it’s a humanitarian crisis this is our concern I’m wondering and I mentioned Hamas because your organization the
International uh Red Cross has been in contact directly with senior Hamas leadership and one of the things that the discussions have been focused on has been the hostages we’re learning tomorrow this morning rather there are3 hostages that is the new number released by Israel just this morning and I’m
Wondering as you talk talk to Hamas leadership about the hostages which were taken on October the 7th is there any new information you can share with us this morning in terms of how they are where they are and what the status of negotiations is to get them
Freed firstly I would just like to reiterate that our hearts go out to the families of those who have loved ones that were taken hostage this has been more than a week and a half of an agonizing situation for them and this is one of our top priorities ities as you
Said we have been speaking uh at the highest levels face to face continually uh calling for the immediate release of hostages calling for our immediate access to them so that we can check on their well-being so that we can uh create a Lifeline of communication between them and their families who are
Obviously very desperate uh for news we will continue uh to engage with Hamas as we do with all sides to any any conflict or parties to any conflict this is our top priority can I just jump in though Sarah as you said those are the demands that you have made to allow family
Members to speak to their relatives who are being held immediate access to see those hostages have you been able to do those things at this stage I believe conversations are still ongoing we do not currently have this access however we are dedicated we are committed uh to relentlessly pursuing this Sarah we’ll
Be in touch with you further on that issue and on on the question of Aid thank you very much for the information this morning I appreciate the conversation
Sarah Davies, with the International Committee of the Red Cross, says her organization is in contact with Hamas and is ‘relentlessly’ seeking access to the hostages held by the militant group. The Red Cross wants to ‘create a lifeline of communication’ for families desperate for news.
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