Almost a month after the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, the suffering of civilians remains enormous. Thousands of people in Israel live in fear and uncertainty whether they will see their relatives held hostage again after the brutal attacks by Hamas on the civilian population. The population in the Gaza Strip suffers not only from the enormous shortage of food, medicine, water and electricity, but also from the threat of constant bombing. According to the United Nations, more than 1.4 million people have had to flee their homes. The majority of them are women and children. In the face of the tragedy that is unfolding in the Middle East, we are calling for solidarity.
Several of our Swiss partner organisations have been active in the Gaza Strip for many years. These include the Terre des hommes Foundation, MSF, Caritas, Save the Children, HEKS, cfd, SOS Children’s Villages and Médecins du Monde. Despite the ongoing blockade, several of them have been able to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in recent days. For example, on 29 October, a first truck from Save the Children arrived in Gaza with 45,000 bottles of water. Cfd and HEKS were able to distribute financial support to affected families. These partner organisations are preparing stocks of food, water, medicines and first-aid kits in Egypt, which they will distribute as soon as possible.
In the field, we work exclusively with our accredited Swiss partner organisations, which have extensive experience in providing aid in disasters and armed conflicts. These organisations adhere to the humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity. They work where the need is greatest and support the most disadvantaged people. Donations are not used to fund government institutions.
«Continuous and unimpeded humanitarian access must be urgently ensured. Otherwise, the already dire humanitarian situation will deteriorate further and the health system is at risk of collapse.»Miren Bengoa, Director of Swiss Solidarity
Swiss Solidarity, 1211 Geneva 8
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