Gaza: HI response to the humanitarian crisis

Since October 7 and the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas, at least 35,091 Palestinians have been killed – including at least 10.000 children - and 78,827 injured in the continuous bombing of Gaza by Israeli forces. This deadly offensive comes in the wake of an attack launched on Israel by Hamas, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken hostage.

In the Gaza Strip

Many of HI's staff in Gaza who had been relocated to Rafah are now displaced again, following evacuation orders by Israel amidst growing threats of a ground offensive in the southern Gaza City. In addition, around 600,000 people have escaped Rafah in the past 10 days towards Khan Younis and the Middle Area. These people, as well as hundreds of thousands of others remaining in Rafah, are now living in appalling conditions, without food, drinking water, sanitation, medicine or adequate shelter.

Since October 7, HI has been able to provide the following assistance:

• Rehabilitation: Since October, a total of 8,560 nursing care sessions (wound dressing), 9,475 physical therapy sessions and 3,222 occupational therapy sessions have been organized, and a total of 2,108 mobility aids and 1,002 dressing kits supplied.
• Basic Needs: 78 first aid kits, 137 cooking kits, 3,456 nappies, and 452 dignity kits have been distributed, along with baby blankets.
• Armed violence reduction: more than 3,000 community awareness sessions on the risks of explosive remnants of war have been organized in 540 shelters and 56 camps, reaching more than 72,000 children and adults.
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS): a total of 300 recreational activities have been organized in 160 shelters and camps for 57,000 people, the vast majority of whom are children.
• HI-Atlas Logistics has managed a mutualized warehouse in Rafah for humanitarian supplies of NGOs since February 2024 and is setting up a second mutualized warehouse in the Middle Area.

For the time being, due to the offensive in Rafah, only risk education and recreational activities are being conducted in Khan Younis and the Middle Area. 

In the West Bank

• Education: 400 hibernation kits (stationery and clothes) for children at UNRWA schools in Tulkaram and Nur Shams Refugee Camp were provided.
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS): Preparation for conducting recreational activities for 128 orphaned children who came from Gaza to Bethlehem and are currently living in the SOS Village. 95 basic kits will be provided to the children and adults displaced from Gaza.
• Rehabilitation and basic needs: 173 kits were provided in total through HI's existing network of volunteers, and 132 others through local partners, including first aid, wound dressing, hygiene kits, dignity kits, stress management, education, kitchen supplies, and functional mobility assistive devices for affected households and individuals impacted by the ongoing hostilities. Rehabilitation services are conducted to injured persons in Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, and Tulkarem.
• Protection: HI is currently working with its local partner in Jenin to establish a new warehouse that will support the work on community emergency preparedness.

In Lebanon

• HI has organized several training sessions on emergency rehabilitation and wound treatment for medical staff from hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
• HI has pre-positioned 6 stockpiles of technical aids (mobility aids, etc.) and dressing kits in six health facilities in southern Lebanon and a seventh stockpile in HI’s base in Aley, Mount Lebanon.
• Two mobile teams are organizing risk education sessions for displaced people in Tyre, Nabatiyeh and Saida.
• HI is also supporting two local partners to provide rehabilitation services to internally displaced people in Tyre and Nabatiyeh.

In Egypt

• In December, HI bought a large quantity of humanitarian equipment in Cairo (mobility aids, dressing kits, first aid kits, hygiene kits and dignity kits) and sent it to Gaza in eight trucks. A second delivery of food and essential household items for HI staff and volunteers was shipped to Gaza in three trucks at the beginning of February 2024. A third large shipment of humanitarian supplies was sent to Gaza in ten trucks at the end of March/beginning of April. A fourth shipment is being prepared in Egypt.
• HI-Atlas Logistics has organized several training sessions on cold chain maintenance during storage and transport for the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is supervising all humanitarian shipments from Cairo to Gaza.

Call for an immediate ceasefire

HI is alarmed by the massive number of civilian victims, the lack of safe humanitarian access and the limited number of trucks being able to enter the Gaza Strip daily. Along with more than 800 organizations, HI is continues to call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the carnage and ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance.