Update to Current Crisis
The conflict in Gaza began on 7th October 2023. As of the 27 th March 2024:
- 32,490 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 74,889 injured. Women and children, tragically, make up 70% of all those killed to date.
- Many people remain missing, presumably buried under the rubble, waiting for rescue or recovery.
- Heavy bombardments across Gaza from air, land and sea are ongoing, with intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, especially in and around Shifa hospital in Gaza city and in central Khan Younis.
- Only 12 of 36 hospitals across Gaza are partially functional and able to admit patients. Most of those, particularly in the north, are only able to provide limited services because of critical shortages of supplies and staff. In Khan Younis, patients and staff have largely been evacuated from Nasser hospital, and the European Gaza hospital (EGH) is at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in adjacent areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby.
- Over 80% of primary health care clinics have shut down because of damage or a lack of fuel and/or staff. This severely compromises access to health care for everyone, but particularly young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older persons, persons with disabilities and patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
- Only four of 22 United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) health centres are still operational in southern areas of Gaza. Midwives are providing care for post-natal and high-risk pregnant women at these centres, with an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and more than 180 giving birth every day in the most appalling conditions.
- 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, fleeing to emergency shelters or the homes of family/friends, with many now displaced multiple times. A severe water shortage, consumption of contaminated water, massive overcrowding in shelters and breakdown of the vaccination programme have already resulted in a surge in communicable disease reports, with cases of diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and hepatitis A rising rapidly. There has also been a concerning increase in the number of cases of mumps and meningitis, with potentially devastating outbreaks of typhoid, cholera and measles anticipated.
- Critical food shortages have created famine conditions across Gaza, especially in the north. On 15th March the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported a staggering and rapid rise in malnutrition levels among children, warning that "there is a high risk that malnutrition rates will continue to increase across the Gaza Strip in the absence of more humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services". Tragically over 20 young children in northern Gaza have already died as a result of acute malnutrition.
- Mains electricity has been unavailable since 11th October 2023, with completely inadequate fuel supplies for emergency generators, even at hospitals.
- Erez crossing remains closed by the Israeli authorities. Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings are now open more consistently, allowing a small number of internationals and critically injured patients to leave and the delivery/distribution of aid into Gaza, but still only a fraction of the fuel, food, water and medical supplies needed are getting in.
Our Immediate Objective:
- To help respond to the current emergency, getting surgical teams and life-saving equipment/supplies into Gaza as soon as possible. Our first team worked at the European Gaza hospital, Khan Younis, for two weeks from 27th December 2023, and we have deployed teams to the same hospital for two weeks every month since then. We have been able to support local colleagues, exhausted and fearful for their families, with the emergency surgical management of survivors of major trauma (predominantly blast and crush injuries), and the subsequent management of patients with complex limb injuries. So many of these patients have lost family members and have devastating, disabling wounds, requiring multiple operations and lifelong rehabilitation.
Medium/Longer-Term Objectives:
- To continue regular missions and vital equipment procurement over the next year, with the focus changing post ceasefire from emergency care to longer-term reconstruction and rehabilitation.
- To continue support for the established adult/paediatric trauma and limb reconstruction services, to ensure resilience and robust succession planning.
To support our life-saving work please donate through the link below. Thank you.
