Gaza City, May 20 (AP) The International Committee for the Red Cross is calling for a temporary cessation of hostilities between Israel and the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip to allow people time to shop for their basic needs.

Mirjam Muller, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza, said on Thursday that such “a breather” would allow people to buy food, see doctors and “have a little bit of time to digest what is happening to them.”

She says “a couple of hours” for people to move around safely “would be really important right now and we are calling for that.”

The latest war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers is now in its 11th day and people in the Gaza Strip are staying mostly holed up in their homes or have fled to schools-turned-shelters. Muller says Israeli airstrikes and outgoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants have been “extremely intense” and that people feel “they can't breathe anymore.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)