CAFOD: Ceasefire make it possible to bring aid to Gaza

In seven weeks of fighting in Gaza, more than 2,200 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes. The ceasefire agreed on Tuesday 26 August has given CAFOD’s partners much-needed space to deliver food, water and healthcare to those who need it most, and to start planning for long-term recovery.

“At the height of the fighting, it was extremely difficult to deliver life-saving supplies,” says Mary Lucas, CAFOD’s Representative for the Middle East. “The volunteers and local aid workers we are supporting had to take great risks to make sure that the aid got through. We pray that peace will last, and that serious negotiations will take place to end the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis.”

During the fighting, CAFOD’s partner Caritas Jerusalem provided 3,000 people in two Greek Orthodox schools with food, powdered milk and hygiene kits. Caritas also supported disabled and older people with food parcels through the Catholic parish in Gaza, and worked in six schools to provide hygiene kits, food baskets and blankets. With CAFOD’s support, Caritas continued to run its health centre and mobile clinics, providing urgently needed medical care to people who were injured.

CAFOD partner Catholic Relief Services successfully distributed 8,000 emergency kits to families displaced by the conflict. They also provided in-kind medical support, including latex gloves, bandages, surgical blades, syringes, needles and fuel for generators at health centres. CAFOD also worked with Islamic Relief and Catholic Relief Services to ensure that families who had been forced from their homes had access to water and the means to stay healthy in overcrowded shelters.
Since the fighting came to an end, all of CAFOD’s partners have scaled up their relief operations and are planning longer term projects to help people rebuild their lives. So far, Catholics in England and Wales have donated more than £265,000 to CAFOD’s Gaza Crisis appeal.

“There is an enormous amount of work to do,” says Mary Lucas. “Thousands of homes were destroyed, as well as schools, hospitals and Gaza’s only power station. As people return to what is left of their homes, they need food, water, medicine and emergency supplies. They also need hope for the future, and that’s why CAFOD is calling for the underlying causes of the conflict to be tackled.”

Fr. Raed Abusahlia, Director of Caritas Jerusalem, spoke for many Christians in the region when he said: “We are counting on the prayers of the whole world. We believe the power of prayer is stronger than all the world’s armies.”

Donate to CAFOD's Gaza Crisis appeal here: www.cafod.org.uk/Give/Donate-to-Emergencies/Gaza-appeal