January 14 Update on Gaza – Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR)
The shipments carried by the ACT Forum Palestine trucks have entered the Gaza Strip and all supplies have been loaded off at the Al-Ahli hospital. It has been agreed that the Al-Ahli hospital will take responsibility for distributing the biscuits purchased by DSPR to the children and lactating mothers in the population of close to 50,000 people who have sought cover in UNRWA schools and shelters. DSPR clinics in Gaza will use the medicaments whenever the war situation allows.
The shipments carried by the ACT Forum Palestine trucks have entered the Gaza Strip and all supplies have been loaded off at the Al-Ahli hospital. It has been agreed that the Al-Ahli hospital will take responsibility for distributing the biscuits purchased by DSPR to the children and lactating mothers in the population of close to 50,000 people who have sought cover in UNRWA schools and shelters. DSPR clinics in Gaza will use the medicaments whenever the war situation allows. The medicaments arrived at a time when all the medicines in the Shijaiya clinic have been lost due to the destruction of the clinic. The medications purchased by DSPR for the clinics are the standard medications for a Primary Health Clinic and usually are of a different kind than those used by the hospitals. Please find attached two lists of purchased medicine, one for Al-Ahli hospital and one for DSPR clinics. Also attached is a photograph showing Emergency Coordinator, Gregory Bakken, and Area Representative for Norwegian Church Aid, Liv Steimoeggen, checking the fortified milk cartons. The photo was taken by Yusef Daher, director of Jerusalem Interchurch Center in Jerusalem.
In light of the continued restriction of movement, the clinics of DSPR have come to a halt. Both the medical teams and the patients cannot make it to the clinics. The medical teams are on alert that upon the declaration of a ceasefire, our medical work would be on go immediately. For the next shipment of needed commodities, food and medicines, DSPR has decided to investigate the possibility of sending drinking water and the means to ensure that it would get through to Gaza.
On a different note, we have received some photographs from Dan Church Aid Coordinator in Gaza, Omar, through the good offices of Fadia Daibes, Dan Church Aid Country Representative, on the water sewage crisis and the accumulation of solid waste in Gaza. With the electricity only available for a maximum of four hours a day, the water crisis continues to build up with households either suffering from shortages or using unfiltered water. Additionally, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility “CMWU” in Gaza reported that it has approached the Israeli army with several requests through the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and other International organizations including UNRWA and the ICRC, to repair all damages to the water system infrastructure and to allow for the distribution of diesel fuel to all water pumps donated by UNRWA. The requests were denied by the Israeli army.
Please find below some of Omar’s photographs.
