Welfare Association is providing immediate relief aid in the form of basic foodstuffs and medical supplies to the people in Gaza as a rapid response to the severe humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. Direct beneficiaries are in two groups: especially needy families and NGO hospitals and health centers. Food stuffs were purchased from what was available in the local market.

WA succeeded in distributing 1,500 food packages in the southern areas of Gaza Strip through coordination with the Shabab Al-Aqsa Centre. WA is now distributing an additional 1,600 family food packages in the northern areas of the strip, allocated to the neediest families in the area in coordination with the Union of Health Care Committees (UHCC). The partner organizations were chosen based on their in-depth experience in this field as well as their distribution and transportation capabilities and availability of personnel. Each package is valued at $50 and will be disbursed through a field network of 16 charitable organizations. Contents include: rice, pasta, beans, yeast, humus, jam, tea, tinned meat, cheese, oil, halawah (sweetened sesame) and sugar.

In a second stage, 10,000 food packages worth US$ 500,000 will be distributed to families in all parts of the Gaza Strip through five charitable organizations that are partners with Welfare Association. Contents include: rice, pasta, beans, yeast, humus, jam, tea, tinned meat, cheese, oil, halawah (sweetened sesame) and sugar. In addition, 10,200 food and urgent non-food items, (baby milk and food packages, 5,000 mattresses, 5,000 blankets, 5,000 drinking water packages, plastic sheets, and 2,000 baby diapers) will be purchased from the market in the West Bank and transferred to Gaza through UN facilitation.

WA is also providing $222,000 in materials to 16 NGO hospitals and health centers in various areas of Gaza Strip: diesel fuel for generators and emergency vehicles, and beds and medical equipment for their emergency services. WA is coordinating the NGOs’ needs assessments and deliveries through the volunteer services of one of the Gaza NGO hospitals. 32,000 liters of diesel, sufficient to supply the centers for one month were distributed at a cost of US$ 66,000. The fuel was purchased directly from stations located in the Gaza Strip and distributed to hospitals in coordination with the International Red Cross. The beds and medical equipment totaling $156,000 were purchased locally and distributed to the NGO hospital and health center emergency rooms.

Already, the number of Gaza beneficiaries totals more than 100,000 individuals who have been assisted through Welfare Association emergency relief worth US$ 1.3 million, more than half of the US$ 2.5 million raised by Welfare Association through its Special Gaza Appeal launched on 5 January 2009 with a target value of US$ 5.0 million.