Jerusalem (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 19 August made a sizeable donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as the latter continues to tackle a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on World Humanitarian Day at the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the ICRC head of mission in Jerusalem Els Debuf spoke of the need to protect humanitarians and health care workers at the forefront of the battle against the virus.
“Today, as we work to fight the virus, the value of health workers and humanitarians to our societies has never been clearer,” she said. “And the need to ensure they are protected as they perform their vital work has never been more obvious.”
The ICRC donation, worth more than 66,000 US dollars, included almost 40,000 surgical masks, nearly 50,000 pairs of latex gloves and 11,600 respirator masks.
World Humanitarian Day is dedicated to recognizing humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives while doing humanitarian work.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many humanitarian and medical workers have died after being infected with the virus. They have also sometimes been targeted with violence. The ICRC recorded 600 incidents of violence against medical personnel around the world during the first six months of the spread of COVID-19.
The ICRC reminds all that health personnel, medical facilities and transport such as ambulances must be respected and protected in all circumstances, and the work of medical personnel must be facilitated at all times.
For further information, please contact:
Dan Waites (English), ICRC Jerusalem, tel: +972 52 601 9150
Yahia Masswadeh (Arabic and English), ICRC Jerusalem, tel: +972 526019148
Suhair Zakkout (Arabic and English), ICRC Gaza, tel: +972 59 92 55 381
Or visit our website; www.icrc.org/israel-occupied-territories
facebook.com/ICRCot (Arabic), facebook.com/ICRCil (Hebrew), twitter.com/ICRC_ilot, blogs.icrc.org/ilot
