Santa Barbara–Based Efforts for Israel–Hamas War Aid Continue

Leaders Reach Agreement to Reopen Gaza's Border with Egypt

Supplied staged at Direct Relief await shipment to its partner Anera. | Credit: Courtesy Direct Relief

[Update: Oct. 18, 2023, 5 p.m.] An update today from Direct Relief stated the border at Gaza and Egypt will be opening to deliveries of basic humanitarian aid. The Santa Barbara-based medical supply nonprofit has had pallets of relief supplies ready to go for several days, while the crossing at Rafah was suspended.

According to The Jerusalem Post, President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to an agreement to allow aid through Egypt’s Rafah entry point, with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office agreeing that water, food, and medicine could enter Gaza. Netanyahu’s office also stated the aid was restricted to the civilian population, excluding Hamas.

“Direct Relief is actively working to resume medical aid shipments in coordination with global agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and in accordance with U.S. sanctions and Israeli authorities’ approval,” an update posted at its website states.

The group will send nine consignments of medical aid to Gaza and the West Bank, which its partner Anera had requested prior to Hamas’s attack on Israeli villages across the Gaza border on October 7. An emergency grant of $100,000 will also be given for Anera to evacuate its staff in Gaza.

*The damage grows in Gaza, as does the human suffering, while its borders are sealed to humanitarian aid.*

[Original Story] Gaza remains inaccessible amid the ongoing Israel–Hamas War, yet many Santa Barbara–based organizations are standing by in hopes of providing aid should the borders reopen.

On Friday, humanitarian and disaster aid group Direct Relief pledged $1 million to support humanitarian relief efforts in Israel. “Funding will be provided to Israeli organizations providing emergency health and social services, several of which have requested assistance to secure needed health and medical essentials,” the organization stated in a press release.

This commitment comes following an initial $75,000 pledge Direct Relief made October 10 to the Ashkelon Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel.

ShelterBox U.S.A., a Santa Barbara–based group that provides shelter and emergency supplies to displaced families, responded to conflict in Gaza in 2004, 2008, and 2015, but does not currently see a means to respond:

“[W]e are following developments in Gaza, Israel, and the wider Middle East, and if this changes in the coming weeks, months, then we can reassess using our response criteria, if we need it, to help us make tough decisions,” the organization said in a statement. “This considers where else in the world we’re responding, the suitability of our aid, and capacity.”

Gaza is without power, with fuel for hospital generators running low. Water and food are running short, as humanitarian aid is unable to cross into the area as Israel refuses to cooperate with humanitarian efforts, according to Reuters.

Direct Relief organized a list of the organizations it often partners with, for anyone who’d like to support on-the-ground aid efforts:

● Save a Child’s Heart: An organization committed to saving the lives of critically ill children suffering from heart disease.

● Magen David Adom (MDA): Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service.

● St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group: Charitable provider of expert eye care to patients regardless of ethnicity, religion, or ability to pay.

● IsraAID: A non-governmental organization partnering with local and civil society organizations to coordinate humanitarian efforts, providing psychosocial support and urgent aid to vulnerable communities, evacuees, and their families.