Federation mission to Middle East calls for access to sick and injured
10 April 2002

The President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, and the Secretary General, Didier J. Cherpitel, today visited Israel and the Occupied Territories to express the organisation's solidarity with the staff and volunteers of both the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and its Israeli counterpart, Magen David Adom (MDA).

They also called for unrestricted access to the sick and injured for both organisations as important partners of the International Federation whose staff and volunteers have come under attack while carrying out their humanitarian mission in recent weeks.

"In line with the humanitarian values and principles of our Movement we are here to show compassion for all the victims. The health situation is deteriorating, particularly in the West Bank and in Ramallah where we met this morning with the PRCS. We appeal for the emergency health services in both Israel and the Occupied Territories to be allowed to operate without fear of being obstructed in their humanitarian work," said President Suárez del Toro.

"In recent weeks we have seen two of our PRCS colleagues killed and eight injured in various incidents. At the end of March, four MDA medics were injured in a suicide bomb attack on a MDA ambulance centre. This is completely unacceptable," he added.

In a meeting with the Deputy Director General for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mordechai Yedid, Mr. Cherpitel asked the Israeli authorities to allow unimpeded access to the sick and injured and to ensure that there are no further detentions of PRCS ambulance crews and staff implementing their humanitarian mission.

He recalled the terms of a joint appeal issued last week by the Federation and the International Committee of the Red Cross stating that there have been frequent and often serious instances in which medical personnel were prevented from performing their life-saving duties. The most basic humanitarian pre-condition in a situation of violence, is that all medical staff and volunteers be allowed to function unmolested. A number of PRCS ambulances have been deliberately damaged or destroyed in the present conflict.

For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:

Denis McClean, Head of Media Service Tel: + 41 22 730 4428 / + 41 79 217 33 57

The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.