After a few hours of respite on Thursday, the people of Gaza are now facing a ground offensive. The warring parties observed a five-hour truce — between 10am (7am GMT) and 3pm (12pm GMT) — on Thursday to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. The truce came a day after renewed hostilities on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The ongoing hostilities have triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Many have been killed and hundreds injured in nine days of conflict. Meanwhile damage to the water infrastructure in Gaza has endangered everyone. On Thursday, ICRC engineer Sara Badei talked about damage to water systems and how difficult it is to ensure people have drinking water.

Video: Damage to water infrastructure endangers everyone in Gaza

On Wednesday, Day 8 of the hostilities, the ICRC’s Head of Office in Gaza Christian Cardon, had given an update on the current humanitarian situation, and described the priorities and activities of the organization.

Video: What’s happening in Gaza

As the number of casualties continue to grow, the ICRC is working round the clock in close coordination with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Magen David Adom to ensure a swift response to medical and other needs. Hospitals are running out of medical supplies and repeated bombing is devastating Gaza’s fragile water infrastructure, leading to acute water shortage.

“Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are now without water. Within days, the entire population of the Strip may be desperately short of water,” said Jacques de Maio, head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied territories.

News release: Gaza: Water in the line of fire.

The ICRC has adapted its operational setup, its capacity for action and its security measures to ensure that it is able to meet humanitarian needs arising from the intensification of hostilities.

Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on all sides to protect civilians and medical workers caught in the midst of the escalating conflict. In a news release dated 10 July, the ICRC deplored the casualties and the damage caused at the Palestine Red Crescent branch in Jabaliya, northern Gaza on 9 July when a dozen staff and volunteers were wounded and three ambulances destroyed.

ICRC New Delhi