Fourteen years of a brutal, life-threatening blockade has denied Gaza of water, food, electricity, shelter and held two million people captive. Gaza was deemed “unlivable” by international agencies in 2020. Now the recent Israeli bombardment has only worsened the humanitarian disaster:
roughly 60,000 people have been made homeless by the bombing, 800,000 people left without access to piped water. Six hospitals and eleven primary health-care centers, as well as 54 schools and educational facilities, damaged by the bombing.
With a severe lack of fuel due to the Israeli blockade and recent bombing damage to the electricity network, Gazans are reduced to an average of 4-6 hours of electricity per day. Besides the terrible impact on daily life, the lack of electricity hugely compounds the difficulty in providing health care. Gaza’s health system was already completely overwhelmed by a surge in COVID-19 cases in 2021; now the only laboratory for Covid-19 testing has been damaged.
About half of Gaza’s population is under 18, and there are many children who have lived through several of these terrifying Israel bombardments in their short lives. Even before this latest destruction, 80% or more of the population was dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. Now the need is more urgent than ever.
HOW YOU CAN HELP NOW
Besides advocating for justice for the Palestinian people, we know we are also called to help those in dire need. There are many options for your giving; here are three respected organizations that have a good track record of getting urgent aid into the hands and homes of those who need it. (Courtesy of United Methodists for Kairos Response)
1) UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency)
2) M.A.P. (Medical Aid to Palestine)
3) Care Canada
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK 