Situation
The intensified armed conflict in Gaza is impacting the lives of millions, further exacerbating an already complex and protracted large-scale humanitarian crisis. The staggering number of people that have been killed and injured, many of them young children, with numbers continuing to rise, and the unprecedented level of destruction of services and homes have created an unbearable humanitarian catastrophe.
The entire population is considered in need of humanitarian assistance across all sectors. There is a lack of food, drinking water, sanitation, healthcare, and safety. Aid coming in continues to be vastly insufficient and does not match the needs that Red Cross Red Crescent teams are seeing on the ground. The situation has drastically deteriorated since the closure of the Rafah crossing on May 7.
The UN estimates that 1.9 million people are internally displaced within Gaza, in other words, approximately 9 out of every 10 people in Gaza, many of who have been already forced to move multiple times in search of safety.
There is no longer a complete and functioning health system in Gaza, where, from start to finish, medical needs can be met. According to WHO, only 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional in some capacity.
Across the Gaza Strip, food insecurity continues to be at critical levels. 22 % of the population is facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, meaning extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities.
As conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, staff and volunteers of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement are working day and night, risking – and losing – their lives while helping others. They are seeing extreme levels of death, danger, and destruction. Yet, even amid this chaos, they are still doing all they can to reach and give comfort to people experiencing this horror.
Our Response
Irish Red Cross is providing funding to support our partners in the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement – primarily the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) – to respond to urgent humanitarian needs and to provide lifesaving assistance and other essential services.
To date, Irish Red Cross has contributed over €600,000 to assist the Palestinian Red Crescent in providing relief items and lifesaving assistance across Gaza. This funding is supporting the delivery of food, shelter, women’s dignity kits, as well as health services and psychosocial support.
Palestinian Red Crescent Society Response
With nearly 800 staff and more than 450 volunteers in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent has reached over 1.8 million people.
Their priority activities are as follows:
- Emergency Health Care via Emergency Medical Service (EMS) stations, deploying ambulances and advanced medical posts, supporting medical evacuations, providing equipment, supplies and stock to health facilities, providing mental health and psychosocial support
- Emergency Relief including food and cash assistance
- Shelter including sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their premises, setting up IDP sites and distributing tents for those outside of sites
- Supporting rehabilitation services for people with disabilities
Since October 2023, in Gaza, Red Crescent/Red Cross teams have:
- Provided emergency medical services to around 50,100 cases
- Reached 295,000 families with relief assistance that includes distribution of food parcels, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses, water jerry cans, kitchen kits and other necessities
- Established 17 camps for displaced people providing shelter to 1,336 families
- Helped more than 1 million people access clean water
- Provided psychosocial support to over 94,000 traumatised people
Last updated July 2024