AmeriCares Medical Aid For Gaza Approved

AmeriCares delivery of more than $1.4 million in lifesaving aid to our partner, ANERA, has been approved by the Israeli government for delivery to Gaza.

Local hospitals and health care clinics will receive the current shipment of medical aid, including antibiotics, surgical supplies, pain medicines, and other basic supplies. AmeriCares relief workers have secured advanced approval for a second delivery of aid valued at $1.2 million.

AmeriCares medical aid bound for Gaza includes:

• Antibiotics to provide nearly 3,300 treatments for children and people with serious wounds
• 9,800 treatments of pain medicines for the sick and injured
• High-blood pressure medicines for 2,700 sick and elderly patients
• Surgical and other medical supplies for emergency and trauma care

Additionally AmeriCares has reached out to the Egyptian Red Crescent and offered a shipment of basic medical aid including pain medicine, antibiotics, bandages, and other supplies. These items will likely contribute to a larger shipment of aid which is being planned by the Red Crescent for Gaza.

AmeriCares has been working with our partner, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), since 1993 to provide regular shipments of humanitarian assistance. ANERA is an American nongovernmental organization with five program offices in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and partners with may other American charitable organizations such as Global Impact, the American Jewish World Service and Mercy Corps. ANERA, like AmeriCares, has a humanitarian focus and is apolitical.

“ANERA reports their relief workers are safe, though their movement is heavily restricted,” said Jonathan Hodgdon, an AmeriCares emergency relief worker with years of experience working in Gaza. “Working with our long-time partner, we are confident we can overcome the logistics challenges of safely distributing the medicine and supplies to hospitals and clinics around Gaza City and and further south in the Gaza Strip.”

AmeriCares has also offered aid to Israel; however Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, does not generally accept donations of medicines from outside the country. AmeriCares has been supporting medical relief for the Israeli people since 1993. Most recently, we have provided donations of medicines to volunteer physicians traveling to Israel from the U.S. through our Medical Outreach Program.

Nearly 80% of Gaza’s residents are dependent upon humanitarian aid for their basic needs – including basic health care for themselves and their children.

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