ICRC personnel in Gaza report that the civilian population is living in fear as attacks continue. Civilian casualties, including children, continue to arrive in local hospitals. This is how an ICRC staff member described the situation at his home in Gaza: "We have nowhere to hide. We gather the children in the living room and sleep there on mattresses. We have to leave the windows open so that the glass won't break when bombs hit nearby. It gets very cold and the children cry when we hear the bombs exploding."

Slightly more people are daring to venture out into the streets of Gaza today than yesterday as there appear to be fewer bombardments. Long queues are forming in front of bakeries, and it is becoming more difficult to find certain food items. The price of fuel – used mostly to run private generators – has risen dramatically, from 1.8 shekels before the current military operation to 5.8 shekels per litre.

Hospitals

Gaza hospitals reported to the ICRC that they had admitted 1,266 injured persons by mid-day 29 December.

Yesterday, 29 December, ICRC medical and water and sanitation specialists visited Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The hospital currently treats most injured patients in the Gaza Strip. Its intensive care unit now has 43 beds. Once patients are in a stable condition or have been operated on, they are moved to other hospitals. Even though the situation in Shifa Hospital seems to have eased somewhat, with fewer deaths and injuries reported, the hospital is still crowded and very busy. Most windows in the surgical block and emergency room were shattered by bomb explosions at a nearby mosque. Water tanks on the roof were also damaged and the ICRC plans to help repair them. The hospital appears to have most of the drugs and equipment it needs for now, but more medicines and blood will be required over the coming days.

Some hospitals are mostly depending on generators for their electrical power, as the regular supply is only available for a few hours a day. The maintenance and repair of the generators could become a problem.

Yesterday, 29 December, six patients crossed the Rafah border for treatment in Egypt.

ICRC activities

• Today the ICRC brought six trucks into Gaza carrying drugs and disposable materials provided by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, spare parts for ambulances and for medical equipment such as blood-pressure machines, heart-rate monitors and patient ventilators, plastic sheeting, 322 food parcels and 350 hygiene parcels.

• An ICRC-chartered aircraft carrying enough items to cover the needs of 500 war-wounded people is scheduled to leave Geneva for Tel Aviv later this afternoon. As soon as possible, these items will be forwarded to Gaza.

• A surgical team from Geneva is expected to arrive in Gaza in the coming days to support the treatment in local hospitals of people wounded in the fighting.