Red Cross slams Israel over access to Gaza wounded
Aid group claims Israel refuses to allow rescuers reach sites in Gaza hit by IDF shelling and evacuate wounded
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has found four small children alive next to their mothers' bodies in a Gaza home hit by Israeli shelling.
The aid group says a total of 15 dead were recovered from two houses in the Zaytun neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.
Red Cross spokesman Pierre Wettach said Thursday rescuers had been refused permission by Israeli forces to reach the site for four days. He described the incident as "shocking."
The Geneva-based group said in a statement that "the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."
It added that the delay in allowing access to rescue services was "unacceptable."
Earlier this week the organization claimed that Gaza was now in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis.
International Committee of the Red Cross head of operation Pierre Kraehenbuehl said Tuesday the situation for Palestinian civilians is "extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting."
