The International Red Cross suspended all field operations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, hours after two of the aid organisation's employees were kidnapped, a Red Cross spokesman said. 'We have decided to suspend our field operations,' spokesman Eyad Nasser told AFP. 'Our employees will stay in their homes and offices and only leave in emergencies.'
Two Italian Red Cross workers were abducted at gunpoint in the south Gaza town of Khan Yunis earlier in the day. The two men, identified as Claudio Moroni, 36, and Gianmarco Onorato, 63, were driving alone back to Gaza City when they were stopped by gunmen, forced out of their vehicle at gunpoint and driven away, an International Red Cross spokesman said.
The Red Cross' decision to suspend field work deals yet another blow to Palestinians already reeling from a social and financial meltdown brought on by a West-led aid boycott.