The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday it was sending two surgical teams to the Gaza Strip and setting up a surgical unit in the enclave's main hospital to treat heavy casualties from violent protests on the border with Israel.
"This infusion of medical expertise and material will expedite the long road to recovery and relieve a stressed and overburdened health care system," said Robert Mardini, ICRC's director for the Near and Middle East, adding that 13,000 people have been wounded since the violent protests on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel began on March 30.
The ICRC is sending surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, drugs and equipment to Gaza to support the overburdened local health system, focusing on patients injured in recent border riots on the border.
The Red Cross said on Thursday that out of more than 3,600 Palestinians wounded by gunfire since late March, about 1,350 will need three to five surgeries each. The agency will open a 50-bed surgical unit and its surgeons will perform about half of an estimated 4,000 surgeries.
