Gaza Relief - After the War
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, with support from the New Zealand public and government, gave $50,000 in 2009 to relief in Gaza after the 3-week war of December 2008-January 2009. This supported a NZ$3.5 million Caritas Internationalis appeal to help Caritas Jerusalem provide emergency food, medicine, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and artificial limbs. In March 2010, Caritas distributed blankets and hygiene kits to more than 4,500 families in Gaza - still under siege for more than 1000 days. Read more...
Caritas Jerusalem has also provided a special intensive care unit (ICU) ambulance to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. During the war, half the ambulances in Gaza were destroyed, while 15 hospitals out of a total of 27 and 41 health clinics out of 118 were damaged.
Read more about Caritas Jerusalem's work for the most vulnerable in Palestine – in both Gaza and the West Bank:
Caritas Jerusalem Health Department News_April 2010.pdf - for news on Caritas Jerusalem's three clinics in Gaza and the West Bank, and its mobile unit in Gaza. Caritas Jerusalem statement on Gaza.pdf (Jan 2009)
Legacy of a War - Amal and the seven slivers of shrapnel
Amal Samuni lives with six or seven slivers of shrapnel in her head – legacy of the Gaza war. At present, doctors say it is too risky to surgically remove the shrapnel from the 11-year-old girl. In the meantime, Amal suffers from headaches and pain in her eyes, feels the shrapnel move sometimes, and cannot play physically with other children. Read more…. (Story from Israeli journalist Amira Hass of Haaretz newspaper in Israel.)