Caritas Australia has received distressing updates from partners working in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate rapidly. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Caritas Jerusalem humanitarian manager Sally Thomas said the situation in Gaza “has been described by our partners working in the region as a ‘living horror movie’”.
“Displacement orders see our colleagues, their families, and those they are working to protect, faced with the harrowing choice to leave their places of shelter or flee into the unknown,” Ms Thomas said.
“To flee would mean hours on foot through ruins, with the chances of being killed on that journey very high. To stay means hearing their neighbours come under fire and awaiting their turn.”
Since October 2023, Caritas partners have been working to support those in need across Gaza.
Caritas Jerusalem has supported 20,000 families representing 125,000 people, providing them with urgent needs such as food and water, as well as long-term recovery, through health, psychosocial support, and prosthetic care.
CRS has provided food assistance to more than 1.18 million people, installed 1470 latrines, delivered mobile water trucking to over 170,000 people and provided over 87,000 tents.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, since October 2023, more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and bombings, while another 11,000 are missing.
An unknown number of babies born in the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict have died due to conflict, hunger, untreated diseases and injuries.
Hundreds of Caritas colleagues working in Gaza are also displaced people who are living in dire humanitarian circumstances as they work to protect the most vulnerable members of their communities.
“We are heartbroken by the conditions they endure, and by the physical and psychological toll being wrought upon innocent people. Caritas continues to call for a lasting ceasefire, as it is the only way to stem the tide of this unimaginable suffering,” Ms Thomas said.
With more than two million people forcibly displaced, Caritas Internationalis warns that Gaza’s future is dependent on an urgent and ethical international response.
To support Caritas Australia’s Gaza Appeal, visit www.caritas.org.au/gaza.
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Caritas partners in Gaza enduring a ‘living horror movie’ as they work to protect the most vulnerable (The Catholic Leader)
