PRCS Statement on the CeaseFire Deal

 

PRCS Statement on the CeaseFire Deal

 (Al Bireh – 17/01/2025): The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. After 15 months of killing, destruction, displacement and famine, the Palestinians can see a glimpse of hope through the darkness and will be able to finally breathe. Humanitarian needs are immense and they must be addressed at scale, immediately. To prevent further loss of life and provide effective support, however, it is crucial that the initial 6-week ceasefire be extended into a sustained agreement. We are at the beginning of what it will appears to be a fragile and demanding road to recovery. 

Throughout the war on the Gaza Strip, PRCS teams and volunteers have remained steadfast in performing their humanitarian mission. They have been providing critical humanitarian assistance, including emergency medical services through its network of emergency centres, ambulances, hospitals and medical posts. They have also provided psychosocial support and essential relief supplies to those in need under dangerous and life-threatening conditions; We have lost 20 of our colleagues while performing their humanitarian duty. However, this tragic loss has not prevented the PRCS teams and volunteers from continuing to save lives and uphold the dignity of the affected communities. 

The PRCS remains dedicated to its humanitarian principles while restoring hope and rebuilding lives in the Gaza Strip. In order to carry out our humanitarian mission effectively, we stress the following: 

• All crossing points must be opened to allow for delivery of enough and sustained humanitarian aid to meet the acute shortage of basic necessities including food, clean water, fuel, medical supplies and shelter.
• All parties and states should respect and support principled humanitarian action and support, protect and facilitate the work of the PRCS, as a leading national humanitarian actor and the recognized National Society of the Red Cross/Red Crescent in the oPT, including receiving and distributing aid going to Gaza. 
• PRCS teams must be allowed immediately to rotate between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Our staff and volunteers in Gaza are exhausted: they have spent almost fifteen months fulfilling their roles tirelessly, with minimal resources, despite themselves being affected in the same ways as the people they support. 
• The PRCS staff (4 staff) and other medical and humanitarian workers who have been forcibly disappeared since October 2023 must be released immediately. 
• Medical evacuations and transfer of sick and wounded from the Gaza Strip to other countries must be urgently facilitated particularly since the Gaza Strip medical system is collapsing.
• As this fragile deal moves forward, it is critical that International Humanitarian Law is unequivocally respected and upheld to restore and ensure protection of civilians and secure a stable and safe humanitarian environment. 
• The protective value of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems must be upheld, and those responsible for deliberate attacks on persons, vehicles, or buildings carrying the emblems must be held accountable. 

At this moment, we would like to thank our partners and supporters who have remained steadfast, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), RCRC National Societies, the UN agencies and other international agencies. 

We now call on our partners for continued urgent and sustained support. The PRCS Emergency Master Plan 2025-2027, launched in Dec. 2024 calls for over $443M to support both the ongoing emergency response, and the transitional phase to re-establish PRCS services and rebuild resilience in the longer-term. Your contributions to this plan are vital to ensure that we can meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations.


 

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