(AKI) - Since the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, the scale of devastation and demand for humanitarian aid is overwhelming, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ICRC said entire families have lost everything and required urgent help meeting such basic needs as shelter, food, water and medical care. "The level of destruction is absolutely overwhelming," said ICRC delegate Jerome Giraud.
"Most people have not been able to move back to their houses. Many checked on their homes, but then decided to return to the (United Nations) UNRWA shelters. They had no other choice."
People are assessing the damage sustained by their homes, neighbourhoods and fields.
"It is as if they were waking from a nightmare," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza.
"They are sharing their stories of hardship and survival with the family members and friends they were separated from during this ordeal."
Tel Al-Hawa, in the centre of Gaza City, was one of the areas hardest hit. The Al-Quds Hospital, the main office of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and several public buildings suffered direct hits, turning entire blocks into rubble and wrecking thousands of private houses.
"We expect the needs of the population to be even greater in the southern and northern outskirts of the city, as they are among the areas that bore the brunt of the bombardments," said Giraud.
"The population there is generally poorer. Some people have been left with absolutely nothing."
Over the coming weeks, the ICRC will provide approximately 80,000 people whose homes were damaged or completely destroyed. It said they are currently in UNRWA shelters or being hosted by relatives or friends.
The ICRC said the past three weeks of conflict have further compounded the already critical situation in humanitarian terms that prevailed in Gaza in the previous 18 months.
In the past two days Red Cross staff have provided aid for around 3,500 people whose homes were badly damaged in the Tel Al-Hawa area of Gaza City with tarpaulins to cover roofs or set up tents, plastic sheeting to replace shattered windows, and other items.