Report & photos from on the ground in Gaza

All Hands & Hearts Family,

I recently returned from spending a week on the ground in Gaza, visiting our local AH&H team working non-stop to deliver humanitarian aid to families. With your support, we have now delivered over 550,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruit. This is so critical, as while access to food is vastly improved since the ceasefire, many families cannot afford to buy anything nutritious. These vegetables are packaged by the AH&H warehouse team into bundles that reached 35,000 displaced families living in camps. We also distributed 3,100 cartons of UHT milk and infant formula. Next week, we hope to do our first delivery of frozen meat and eggs to get children much-needed protein. Your donations make this possible.

But fresh food is just one part of the work. Thanks to our partners, we have brought into Gaza 50,000 hygiene kits that contain important items such as soaps, laundry detergent, toothpaste/toothbrushes, towels, feminine products, and more. We have also delivered 680,000 sachets of RUSF for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition in children, pregnant and lactating women to health facilities in Gaza.

Shelter items are so important right now as 850,000 people are living in makeshift camps, and the AH&H team has now distributed 40,000 tarpaulins to families. Winter Storm Byron recently hit Gaza, bringing heavy wind and flooding that ripped apart many tents. The tarps help repair holes and add protection as temperatures drop, especially in the evening. With the freezing nights in Gaza now here, this week we brought in 2,500 winter coats and sweatshirts for children. We have blankets and more tarps & tents on the way to be distributed over the next couple weeks.

Rather than just write about what it’s like on the ground in Gaza right now, I thought it would be easier to share some photos I took below (including a lion I met), so you can see directly why the work All Hands & Hearts is doing with our partners is so critical. Please consider donating, as every little bit helps and goes directly to support these families.

– Nate

In southern Gaza, the tent encampments stretch as far as the eye can see.

It’s getting very cold at night along with the arrival of heavy rains, so tarps are used by families to create covered spaces with fire to cook and heat.

Just before the big storms hit Gaza, I spent time in some of the displacement camps where we have been delivering tarps, fresh food and hygiene supplies. I tried to record this video to show you what it’s like, and the kids really wanted to join in so it might be hard to hear.

There is now access to food with pop-up markets like this in the camps, but fresh produce remains expensive for most families. This is why we have brought in 550,000 pounds.

Driving into Gaza City, the damage is everywhere. Still, families are living in some of these buildings, or setting up camps in courtyards. We are delivering aid all across Gaza City.

This is the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City, which takes care of the local parish and thousands of families in the surrounding neighborhood. The AH&H team delivers fresh produce bundles here every week, along with hygiene kits. We are also working to bring materials for the classrooms they have built for the children.
Pope Francis called Father Yusuf here single every night right up until his passing.

While trash is being collected in Gaza City, it ends up here at a massive outdoor dump.

Vegetable bundle delivery to camps in Gaza City.

The AH&H Gaza Team delivering tarps to families in the camps after the recent rains.

Evacuated from the Rafah Zoo, these lions now live in the middle of Gaza. We are working to bring in medication for them and the other rescued animals.

Here’s a look at one of our hygiene kit distributions in the Mawasi camps in southern Gaza.