Emergency Appeal
Since October 7, Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza have resulted in the tragic loss of at least 4,651 Palestinian lives, including an expected 1873 children and 45 humanitarian staff, and at least 14,200 injuries
Gaza has been subjected to Israeli airstrikes that have specifically targeted residential buildings, often without prior warning for residents to evacuate. According to the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing, 15,749 housing units have been destroyed while 10,935 have been rendered uninhabitable - making up at least 43% of all residential housing units in Gaza. Airstrikes have also targeted and damaged 29 health facilities, including 19 hospitals, as well as schools, mosques, and churches. 206 educational facilities have also been hit by airstrikes, including 29 UNRWA schools, of which eight were used as emergency shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and at least 140 Palestinian Authority schools, one of which was destroyed.
As a result of these Israeli attacks, there has been a significant internal displacement crisis with internally displaced people nearing 1.5 million individuals. Mass displacement from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip started with Israel’s evacuation order of more than 1.1 million people on October 13. Out of these IDPs, UNRWA estimates that over 580,000 people are seeking shelter in 150 UNRWA schools, some of which have been directly targeted, and around 101,500 in hospitals, churches, and public buildings [1].
Gaza has been under a full electricity blackout for the past 13 days following Israel’s halt of electricity and fuel on October 11. Water supply is critically limited after attacks on water stations, wells, and sanitation facilities, and so are food and medicines, with the Rafah crossing remaining closed for the movement of goods with the exception of a few aid trucks that were allowed in on October 21. More than 2 million people are at risk of dehydration and infectious and waterborne diseases, and fuel reserves at all hospitals are almost depleted, putting thousands of patients at risk, and hospitals on the brick of collapse.
As Gazans continue to flee their homes, it seems awfully clear that they are going from a targeted area to an area that will be targeted
In possibly the worst and deadliest single attack on Gaza in the last few decades, Israeli airstrikes bombed Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the evening of October 17, killing at least 471 people, including patients. On October 19, Israeli airstrikes targeted Saint Porphyries church, the third oldest church in the world, where some 400 IDPs had taken shelter, killing at least 18 people. The 17 hospitals that are still operational in the Gaza Strip continue to receive evacuation orders from the Israeli military, alongside a few shelter UNRWA schools, but their evacuation seems almost impossible.
Emergency Challenges
- Significant obstacles in people's ability to access vital healthcare services
- Scarcity in resources that include water, electricity, gas, communication, and other basic needs
- Safety risks and hazards disrupt the capacity of emergency responders to mobilize which hinders service delivery
- Limited supplies of nutritional and non-food items (NFIs)
- Limited supplies of medical disposable items and medications
Urgent Needs
PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTIONS IN THE GAZA STRIP AND WEST BANK
- Provide psychological first-aid sessions to people in shelters and in the West Bank
- Provide recreational kits for children in shelters and vulnerable communities
PROVIDE HYGIENE KITS
- Procure hygiene kits that meet the specific needs of emergency response.
PROVIDE THE ELDERLY IN NEED WITH THE BASIC NEEDS OF FOOD AND MEDICATIONS (NON- COMMUNICABLE DISEASES)
- Provide basic needs such as food and medications to these high-risk older adults.
MOBILIZE GROUPS OF VOLUNTEERS TRAINED ON BASIC EMERGENCY HEALTH RESPONSES THAT ARE DISTRIBUTED ALL OVER COMMUNITIES IN THE GAZA STRIP AND WEST BANK
- Sensitize, organize, and equip volunteers to respond to basic emergency health services within the Gaza Strip and West Bank
- Provide first aid kits and dressing kits that meet the specific needs of emergency response. These kits should include items such as bandages, antiseptics, gloves, masks, and other necessary supplies.
SUPPORT ESSENTIAL HEALTH SERVICES INCLUDING NUTRITION, SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS AND MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH SERVICES
- Provide essential nutritional needs for families living in shelters; to include canned foods, rice, milk, bread/flour.
- Provide essential SRHR services to families in Gaza to include dignity kits for women and adolescents, including sanitary pads and long-acting and short-acting contraceptives.
- Provide essential maternal and child health services using Minimal Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health approach, to include prenatal vitamins, provision of safe delivery and EmONC services, and clean delivery kits to pregnant women and birth attendants [2].
- Prevent and protect from Gender Based Violence (GBV) as safe spaces within shelters for women and young girls to obtain the appropriate clinical care and referral.
[1] Escalation in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #16. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-16
[2] Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH in Crisis Situations https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/MISP-Reference-English.pdf
During the continuous attacks by Israel targeting residential homes, schools, hospitals and mosques, one thing stands certain:
There is no safe place in the Gaza Strip
Join Us to Help People in Crisis
If you would like to help, please contact Ms. Majd Hardan [email protected]
+970-22414488