Red Cross personnel injured
| 25 July 2006
The British Red Cross is urging respect for its colleagues working in dangerous circumstances in Lebanon where ambulances have been struck by munitions. In one incident, six Red Cross volunteers were injured.
The Lebanese Red Cross reported five security incidents in recent days affecting ambulances as it evacuated the wounded.
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 | | | According to its reports, on 23 July in Cana, a village in southern Lebanon, two ambulances were struck by munitions, although both vehicles were clearly marked by the Red Cross emblem and flashing lights that were visible at a great distance.
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| The incident happened while first-aid workers were transferring wounded patients from one ambulance to another. As a result, nine people including six Red Cross volunteers were wounded.
Balthasar Staehelin from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said: "The ICRC is gravely concerned about the safety of medical staff. We have raised this issue with the Israeli authorities and urged them to take the measures needed to avoid such incidents in the future."
Other incidents of this type include damage to the Society's first-aid station and two ambulances in Insarieh where a first-aid worker suffered minor injuries, and on 18 July an ambulance received a direct hit while on a first-aid and evacuation mission.
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| The Lebanese Red Cross has been constantly active since the beginning of the crisis, meeting the most pressing needs of the civilian population with its 2,400 volunteers, 42 ambulance stations and over 50 clinics and other medical facilities across the country. It remains one of the few organisations able to evacuate war wounded and civilians under fire. The Society works in full cooperation with the ICRC.
Speaking about the current situation, Moira Reddick, head of disaster management at the British Red Cross said: "We urge respect for our colleagues from the Lebanese Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Magen David Adom in Israel, and the Palestine Red Crescent. All Red Cross Movement staff and volunteers are entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law."
She continued: "The Red Cross Movement is not a political or religious organisation, which means that we can reach and offer unconditional and impartial help to people in need whoever and wherever they are. Through our Middle East Crisis Appeal we are supporting our colleagues who are working tirelessly in increasingly difficult circumstances." | |
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