This week Caritas partners in Gaza reported the successful delivery of supplies to support 2,500 families in northern Gaza.
The report stated teams on the ground are “hopeful that we will see other supplies moving into Gaza soon - especially shelter materials given that there are now over 800,000 newly/re-displaced people since the evacuation orders.” Currently, more than 2,000 trucks and liters of fuel are stranded on the Egypt border. Our partners also have 10,000 tents waiting in Egypt and Jordan, alongside tarps, hygiene kits and other essential items.
Since October 7th 1,483 Israelis, and 35,709 Palestinians have lost their lives. 1.7 million people in Gaza are displaced and 1.1 million face catastrophic levels of food insecurity. This month, incoming truckloads of aid reached their lowest level since late October ‘23, with as few as 5 of the required 500 trucks entering Gaza on some days.
Earlier this month the immediate evacuation of 34 neighborhoods in Rafah in southern Gaza and in Jabalia in North Gaza was ordered. Evacuation orders were quickly followed by aerial and land operations. The areas of ordered evacuation included densely crowded neighborhoods, a hospital, and refugee camps in Rafah where 1.4 million people had fled in recent months. Families who have already been displaced multiple times have had to pack their belongings once again and head into uncertainty. Within days, an estimated 800,000 people from Rafah had relocated.
Caritas partners are being impacted by evacuations in Rafah, with an office and main warehouse situated in evacuation zones. In response, these partners have shifted staff, operations, work locations, and aid distribution sites to alternative areas.
Melville Fernandez, Humanitarian Emergencies Associate Director at Caritas Australia said, “We’re immensely proud of our 13 partners in Gaza who have continually expanded their operations throughout this conflict, giving them the ability to redirect aid efforts in response to constant changes in military activity.”
“Make no mistake though, political pressure to re-open the Rafah crossing is crucial. People have spent close to eight months under bombardment, with little food, water, medicine, or shelter. Many have sustained life-changing injuries, and all are suffering psychological trauma. Aid agencies must have unimpeded access to start addressing this humanitarian disaster. Those thousands of tents need to go where people lack shelter, and that fuel could help us take food to those who need it or bring the critically ill to hospitals.”
