Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) announced the allocation of US$1mn, in response to the recent events in Palestine and to provide the most basic needs at the present time. Through its urgent response and rapid action, QRCS seeks to provide support in a number of areas, such as: the provision of medicines and medical consumables to keep pace with the acute consumption of these materials in the current situation, and ambulances, the provision of medical equipment for hospitals, materials to prevent the spread of Covid-19, food and non-food supplies, and partial repair of damaged homes.
QRCS team in Gaza Strip also conducted a field visit to the affected areas and hospitals to assess the damage and urgent humanitarian needs. Al-Shifa Hospital, which is considered the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, was evaluated to check on the safety of the wounded and to identify the most important health needs, and it was found that there is an urgent need to provide hospitals with medicines and urgent medical consumables in light of the continued aggression of the occupation forces on Gaza Strip.
QRCS indicated that the health sector is suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the health burdens have increased on the Ministry of Health and health institutions due to the recent escalation that would weaken the ability to respond to serve the residents of Gaza, in addition to evaluating some residential areas affected by the bombing, provided that the field team continues assessing the affected areas to coincide with the implementation of the urgent response in securing basic needs.
QRCS seeks to launch an urgent relief campaign to provide a decent life for those affected by recovery programmes that will last for 18 months. QRCS has recorded over the past few years distinguished achievements in many humanitarian fields and urgent interventions through its office in Gaza and its field team in the West Bank, including the restoration and rehabilitation of the operations and sterilisation department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Hospital in Jerusalem and providing it with medical devices and equipment, as well as supporting the ambulance and emergency services of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society with 4 ambulances during the years 2020-2021, as this project comes as a continuation of an integrated intervention program for QRCS, which has been implemented since 2016-2017, with the aim of building the capabilities of Palestinians to respond to emergency conditions.
QRCS stated that this response comes after the bloody events and violations of international humanitarian law in Jerusalem, Gaza and many cities in the West Bank, and because dealing with and responding to these events is a humanitarian duty, QRCS has monitored the development of these events by activating the Information Management Center in cases of disasters since May 8, and daily constant contact with his mission in the Gaza Strip and field teams in the West Bank, and continuous communication with the Palestinian Red Crescent and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
