The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the collapse of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip currently threatens to plunge people back into despair and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis there.

Ramallah.- The six-week ceasefire deal, which started on January 19, “has saved countless lives and offered a beacon of hope amid unimaginable suffering,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric affirmed in a statement released in this capital.

The ICRC president stressed that any regression in the forward momentum created over the last six weeks would be a blow to the Gazan population.

Spoljaric highlighted the role played by the Red Cross teams as humanitarian mediators and their contribution to the prisoner exchange between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government halted on Sunday the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a few hours after the current ceasefire ended.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) closed, by orders of the cabinet, all border crossings in a dramatic decision that coincides with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper online reported. (PL)