The shrouded body of one of the victims of overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip is carried on a stretcher at Al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, in Gaza City ahead of a burial ceremony. AFP
The health ministry in the Palestinian territory said the bodies of more than 400 people had been received by Gaza hospitals, after Israel unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire came into effect on January 19.
The truce largely halted more than 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza.
Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) colleagues were reporting that "many medical facilities are literally overwhelmed across Gaza", Tommaso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told a briefing in Geneva.
He said PRCS teams had been responding to the attacks overnight and as of 7:00 am local time (0500 GMT), "they have responded to 150 fatalities and 179 injured people".
"Children were among the casualties," he said.
Della Longa said medical facilities were struggling with the number of patients and with the pressure on dwindling medical supplies.
"There are shortages of food, supplies and fuel," he said, adding that PRCS teams were assessing the impact of fuel shortages on ambulances and getting first responders to those in need.
"No fuel and no aid have entered Gaza since the beginning of March. Fewer ambulances are able to operate and this morning's bombardment has seen ambulances responding across the Gaza Strip, which means fuel supplies have plummeted further," he said.
Medicine shortage
The six-week truce that started on January 19 enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance to the besieged territory.
But on March 2, Israel again blocked the flow of aid during an impasse over extending the ceasefire.
Della Longa said the truce had not been long enough to replenish stocks.
World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic also warned that medicine stocks were becoming depleted.
"Unfortunately, because of this shortage of medicines, there is a risk of health workers not being able to provide treatment for different medical conditions (and) not only for trauma injuries," he told the briefing.
Jasarevic said many supplies were now "running out".
He said the WHO had 16 trucks waiting at El-Arish, on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border, while procurement of essential medical supplies was ongoing.
Meanwhile medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its teams had received a large influx of wounded patients at their field hospital, clinic and at the Nasser Hospital.
"The type of injuries were very difficult. From amputation of the limbs to complicated orthopaedic and burn cases," said Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF's deputy medical coordinator in southern Gaza.
"The hospitals are not able to cope with the situation regarding the mass casualties that they received at once."
Claire Nicolet, MSF's emergencies chief, who is currently in Gaza, added: "It was absolutely terrifying for 20 minutes, with bombs all over the place.
"The population here is completely afraid. Of course, they saw that this is a full restart of the fighting and they are very scared of what's next."
The health ministry in Gaza said in early February that at least 48,000 people had been killed in Israel's military offensive on the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023.
The United Nations considers the ministry's figures reliable.
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