Since October 2023, the conflict and military operations have gravely damaged civilians, devastated Gaza’s infrastructure; severely affecting hospitals and residential areas. By March 2024, the conflict had claimed over 33 thousand lives and injured about 75 thousand, with a disproportionate impact on women and children. The death toll included more than 220 humanitarian workers including the death our colleague, Amany Al Derby, 35, who worked as Psychologist with UOSSM USA and was killed on May 7, 2024, along with her four children (three boys and one girl), after their home was bombed in an airstrike in Rafah. Her husband is in critical condition with severe brain injuries.
Countless endured the trauma of relentless bombardments, resulting in physical and emotional scars such as fractures and amputations of both upper and lower limbs. The frequent shelling and bombardment have also caused a critical shortage of medical facilities in Gaza.
More than 1.7 million Palestinians are displaced, enduring dire conditions in overcrowded shelters with zero-to-limited access to clean water, food, or health. This crisis has resulted in serious health damages to both the health system and the population, including outbreaks of respiratory infections, malnutrition, skin diseases… Access to Primary and specialised Healthcare is immediately needed. Severe shortages of fuel and electricity are significantly impacting hospitals, jeopardizing critical care services such as surgery and dialysis.
In response emergency in Gaza, UOSSM, in collaboration with our partners, has been active since the first days of the crises, actions were immediately taken to address the needs. Medical Missions led by specialised doctors were also an important part of the immediate response, a recent mission just left Gaza on May 6, 2024, led by Dr. Raphael PITTI. For cases that were difficult to treat in Gaza, UOSSM has supported to bring a dozen children from Gaza to Geneva, Switzerland, to be provided with adequate medical care and the needed treatment.
we are deploying 6 medical Points to provide essential healthcare services in shelters located in Rafah and the Middle Area governorates of Gaza (Deir El Balah). Two of these medical Points will be operated by Médcines du Monde while the other four will be operated by UOSSM through our partner on the field, Caritas Jerusalem.
The main objective of these initiatives is providing access to health care to reduce health-related morbidity and mortality among the war-affected population by providing access to quality primary healthcare services. This effort will directly benefit over 10’000 people every month providing essential primary healthcare, mental health, and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to the victims who most need it, while also facilitating the immediate transportation of emergency cases requiring urgent treatment.
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