What is happening in Gaza: Latest News
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic and continues to worsen day by day.
In Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people are sheltering, humanitarian conditions have become increasingly severe.
Most people have not arrived in Rafah directly, but have been displaced two, three, or four times. There is a shortage of food, drinking water, sanitation, medicines, and safety. Coupled with constant stress and fear, and taking into account injuries, age, and disabilities, many residents are in a weakened state and at elevated risk of dying from hunger, common infections or diseases.
The risk of famine increases by the day.
More than half the population of Gaza is experiencing extreme hunger with one in six children under the age of 2 suffering from acute malnutrition.
Day after day, parents try and find food, but return empty-handed. There’s no option but to watch as their children become increasingly weak and vulnerable to malnutrition and dehydration.
Are any hospitals open in Gaza?
The healthcare infrastructure in northern Gaza has suffered extensive damage, pushing the system in Southern Gaza towards collapse. The health facilities that remain operational are struggling to provide services, due to fuel shortages, lack of medicines and medical equipment and unsafe conditions.
What is the Irish Red Cross doing for Gaza?
The Irish Red Cross is directly supporting our partners – Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) – to respond to these urgent needs.
The PRCS is working day and night, risking, and losing, their lives to deliver assistance. It’s only one of two agencies mandated to receive and distribute aid in Gaza. They are the leading provider of emergency medical services and are delivering first aid, life-saving aid and psychosocial first aid since the conflict’s onset.
In the Gaza Strip, Red Crescent teams have so far*:
- Treated more than 17,945 casualties
- Set up 12 camps for displaced people, sheltering 1,161 families
- Helped over 300,000 people access clean water
- Provided psychosocial support to 58,399 traumatised people
*Last updated April 2024
What can you do?
Your support has never been more needed. Please donate now to provide urgent food, shelter, water and medical care.
Zyad is 1.5yrs old. She suffered facial injuries, including a broken mandible, due to a bomb blast. She was operated on by ICRC surgeon Jan Wynands at European Gaza Hospital. Zyad had her stitches removed in March. She was very brave, and all went well. Photo credits: Thomas Glass/ICRC