With funding from Qatar Fund for Development QFFD, Qatar Red Crescent Society QRCS is distributing food parcels to the Palestinians sheltered at the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis Governorate, southern Gaza, as part of an ongoing emergency response to the three-week war.
Dr. Akram Nassar, head of QRCS's representation office in Gaza, said that QRCS personnel there were distributing the QFFD-funded aid, in coordination with Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Deployed to Al-Arish International Airport in Egypt on 17 October and entered into the blockade through the Rafah Border Crossing on 22 October, the Qatari aid comprised 37 tons of food items, medicines, medical equipment, and consumables.
On Wednesday 25 October, 375 food parcels were distributed to 1,875 displaced beneficiaries at the Al-Amal Hospital. On 26 and 27 October, QRCS's relief personnel distributed 2,000 food parcels and 2,000 hygiene kits to 12,000 beneficiaries, with plans to distribute 1,000 shelter kits.
Under the emergency relief intervention, QRCS's office in Gaza and PRCS delivered 38 packs of medical equipment and consumables to hospitals of Palestine's Ministry of Health (MOH), including 100 medical beds for intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments, to ensure the continuity of health services provided for wounded people.
“The humanitarian lifeline also involved 38 batches of diverse medical supplies to support health care services at Gaza's hospitals," Dr. Nassar added. “QRCS is coordinating with partners to implement several humanitarian interventions, aimed at alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza and making sure that wounded and displaced people have access to basic services".
Earlier, QRCS allocated $1,309,000 from its Disaster Response Fund as an initial contribution to secure the much-needed medicines, medical supplies, and ambulance vehicles for emergency, surgery, and ICU departments at MOH hospitals.
QRCS's office in Gaza has already launched phase 1 of the emergency response, with $200,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies delivered to MOH hospitals, in order to back the health care sector in the face of increasing numbers of casualties.
On 22 October, QRCS deployed two food relief shipments aboard Qatari Emiri Air Force (QEAF) aircraft, weighing 86 tons in total. They contained 1,000 39-kg food parcels, to meet the needs of 6,000 beneficiaries.
In the same vein, QRCS strongly condemned the savage and unrelenting bombing of Gaza since 7 October 2023, which had killed, injured, and displaced thousands of civilian Palestinians, including women and children.
In an official statement, QRCS considered the war as being “in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights; blatantly breaching the universal values of mercy, humaneness, and sanctity of life; and seriously undermining international peace and security".
According to the statement, it is imperative to respect the four Geneva Conventions and all the international instruments that provide for the protection of medical personnel, facilities, and teams showing the Red Crescent or Red Cross emblem.
Following the entire communications and Internet cutoff in Gaza on Friday 27 October, QRCS announced that its personnel there had been unreachable, while performing their humanitarian and relief job together with their PRCS peers.
It expressed its deep concern about the safety of its personnel working on the ground, amid a nonstop and violent Israeli bombing, calling for urgent measures to protect relief and medical workers and facilities.