Save the Children staff risk lives to deliver food in Gaza

Save the Children staff and volunteers are risking their lives to deliver urgently needed food packages to families in Gaza in the midst of the Israeli ground offensive.

Monday 5 January 2009

There is a severe shortage of food in Gaza. Even before the ground invasion, research had revealed that as many as 50,000 children were suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt, in Jerusalem, said: “What our staff and volunteers are doing, in the teeth of a military onslaught, is brave in the extreme. Children in Gaza are going hungry. They are stressed and vulnerable. We fear for them.”

Winter temperatures in Gaza drop to around freezing point at night. Electricity supplies have been cut leaving children living in unheated homes, often with windows shattered by the bombing. They are cold, hungry and vulnerable to hypothermia.

Save the Children is also concerned for newborn children needing specialist care in hospitals in Gaza. “There are unconfirmed reports that there are 30 newborn babies in need of intensive care in Shifa hospital. Without electrify to power the incubators, they may die from cold,” said Mr Nutt.

Save the Children is calling for a peaceful solution to the current crisis that is endangering the lives of nearly every child in Gaza, and the lives of Israeli children in areas subject to attacks.

We’re calling for an immediate ceasefire and a cessation of hostilities by all parties, including air strikes from Israel and rocket attacks from Gaza. We’re also seeking immediate humanitarian access for food, fuel, medical supplies, and essential commodities to enter Gaza. This will allow aid agencies to provide much-needed relief to vulnerable children.

Help us to continue our vital work in Gaza. Donate to our Children’s Emergency Fund now.

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