Santa Barbara–Based Charities Take Advantage of Gaza Ceasefire to Ramp Up Humanitarian Aid

ShelterBox and Direct Relief Faced Challenges Delivering Emergency Relief Items to Gaza During War

After 15 months of fighting, much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble. | Credit: Mohammed Zaanoun via ShelterBox

A ceasefire agreement, however volatile, between Israel and Hamas was reached on January 15, opening up the flood gates to humanitarian aid. Santa Barbara–based charities ShelterBox and Direct Relief are taking full advantage of the truce.

According to the United Nations, more than 4,000 trucks carrying fuel and humanitarian relief have entered Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, which is a major step up from the volume during the past 15 months of war.

This week, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their homes. But for many, there were no homes to go back to. Neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. People worry about finding shelter.

“It will take years for Gaza to be rebuilt, and emergency aid items remain top priority,” reads the text on a video released by ShelterBox this week. By working with their partners on the ground, ShelterBox has supported around 15,000 people in Gaza with shelter and essential aid items, including setting up camp communities using items such as tents and kitchen sets.

“We have never seen services like the one here,” said one camp resident, Anas. “We use the space in the rooms to talk to each other and with each other, which makes it a special atmosphere.”

During the war, both ShelterBox and Direct Relief faced challenges delivering emergency relief items to Gaza. While ShelterBox provides relief in the realm of tents and basic essentials, Direct Relief mainly focuses on medicines. In May, many of the charities’ shipments were stuck at the border, blocking much of the combined $92 million in supplies.

But while the ceasefire holds, aid should be able to flow into Gaza much more quickly. While looters still present a security challenge, aid distribution has sped up with the absence of air strikes, as well as expedited border inspections and increased border crossing points. Direct Relief is preparing some significant shipments in the coming weeks, the organization said.

“This situation is so fluid,” said ShelterBox communications director Paul Vercammen. “Since the truce, more ShelterBox tents have reached our partner warehouses in the north of Gaza and will be distributed in the coming days and weeks.”

They also have tarpaulins and ropes in Egypt, waiting to be allowed across the border, he continued. “We hope the ceasefire speeds up this process.”

Caption: People in Gaza have lost homes to Israeli airstrikes, forcing them to live in encampments while Gaza is rebuilt. | Credit: Mohammed Zaanoun via ShelterBox

After the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Israel launched a massive military operation. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the majority of the dead are women and children.

When the ceasefire was first announced, Marcy Winograd, chair of the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition, a chapter of CODEPINK, said she was “thrilled.” But in the hours after, Israel continued to rain bombs on Gaza before the ceasefire was officially to go into effect on January 19, leaving Winograd, like many others, feeling “blindsided.”

The ceasefire was based on a proposal from the former U.S. President Joe Biden, and was supported by Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal. But it came too late, and after too much money (over $20 billion) was already spent on weapons and military assistance for Israel, Winograd said.

“The only surefire way to make Israel keep its word is to impose a weapons embargo on Israel and refuse complicity in its crimes,” she said.

Right now, the ceasefire is still in stage one, meaning there is a 42-day pause in fighting, Israeli troops are leaving populated areas in Palestine, hostages and prisoners on both sides are being released, and Palestinian civilians are being allowed to return to their neighborhoods (whatever is left of them).

In stage two, should the ceasefire hold, a permanent ceasefire would be negotiated, Israeli troops would completely withdraw, and more hostages would be exchanged. And for stage three, remaining bodies of dead hostages would be returned, and Gaza would begin reconstruction.

“If each stage of the ceasefire holds, it will mean that as well as getting aid into Gaza and to people more quickly, we will also be able to scale up our response — especially when the border at Rafah opens again,” Vercammen said.

However, he said it is still too early to determine whether ShelterBox will support longer-term rebuilding efforts in Gaza.

“A humanitarian emergency is still ongoing. ShelterBox specializes in supporting people during the emergency phase,” he said. “Our focus now is finding temporary solutions to meet people’s needs as hundreds of thousands of people return to their homes and communities.”