Humanitarian aid organizations address the crisis in Gaza and Israel

By Tess Terrible,

Published November 3, 2023 at 7:32 AM EDT

A 2-year-old baby boy stands in a street in Gaza where buildings have been destroyed.

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Save the Children staff member Abdallah*, who has a 2-year-old baby boy named Omar, made the decision to retrieve belongings from his apartment with his wife. They had been told their building was likely to be destroyed soon and they needed supplies. They made the perilous journey, not recognising streets as they had been destroyed. They were nearly injured but managed to survive, however they said that the fear of their son becoming an orphan was difficult to cope with.

Save The Children

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A child standing behind a fence in Gaza

Save the Children

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Save the Children staff in Egypt have been preparing supplies for transfer to Gaza. The supplies ready for distribution include 3,000 hygiene kits, 3,000 dignity kits, 3,000 recreational kits, 3,000 baby kits, drinking water, PPE, and medical supplies.

Save the Children

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Save the Children staff in Egypt are preparing aid to be delivered to Gaza- oPt. One truck carrying 45,000 bottles of water from Save the Children has arrived in Gaza so far, as part of the small group of aid trucks which have been approved entry through the Rafah crossing. Save the Children stands ready to deliver more aid when access allows.

Save the Children

As the war continues in Israel and Gaza, humanitarians are working to deliver aid across the region. Humanitarian aid starts with addressing the basic necessities; food, water, and emergency medical care. And later, addressing mental health needs and the survived trauma of the millions displaced. This week, some Connecticut lawmakers called for a humanitarian pause which could allow more aid into Gaza.

Children are nearly half of Gaza’s population. In the past three weeks, more children have been killed there than the total killed in conflicts globally in every year since 2019. That’s according to Save the Children, an international NGO and humanitarian aid organization based in Connecticut.

Today, we hear from two aid organizations based in Connecticut. We learn more about addressing this enormous need, and what the work on the ground looks like.

GUESTS:

Nathaniel Raymond: the Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health
Christine Squires: Americares President and CEO
Janti Soeripto: Save the Children President and CEO

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