SYRIA. BRIDGES OF SOLIDARITY
In February 2024, in light of Israel's terrible genocidal offensive against the population of the Gaza Strip, Un Ponte Per launched its 'Water for Gaza' campaign. Thanks to the relationship we built with our local partner - the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) -; to the extraordinary generosity of the people who donated; and to the many solidarity organisations that organised initiatives throughout Italy - we managed to achieve important results.
The aim was to provide a modicum of relief to the hard-hit population, which is experiencing a severe shortage of food and drinking water.
Together with UAWC and the incredible work of its local teams in Gaza, we reached more than 30,000 people in nine months with distributions of clean water, food baskets and hygiene kits.
What are we actually doing?
Supply of drinking water
This initiative focused on the urgent need for clean water and sanitation to several refugee camps in the central and southern regions of the Gaza Strip. Our intervention reached 5,500 families with 142 cubic metres of clean water to people who previously depended on expensive or contaminated water sources.
Provision of food parcels and hygiene kits
We distributed 72 food parcels to as many fishing families, totalling 396 people displaced or made homeless by the conflict in various areas of the Gaza Strip. This targeted aid played a key role in addressing some of the urgent needs of the affected communities, offering crucial support in a time of extreme need. The food parcels included a balanced variety of nutritious food products, including cereals, pulses, canned food. In addition, we were able to distribute hygiene kits to 500 displaced families.
Installation of eight water tanks
We have been able to install 3 water tanks with a capacity of 5,000 litres, and 4 tanks with a capacity of 2,000 litres to provide lasting support to communities forced to be displaced by Israeli military order. As soon as conditions allow us to do so, the humanitarian and logistical effort will be to support the reconstruction of water purification facilities militarily destroyed by the occupying force.
Installation of 'Dignity Box'
We have installed 4 toilet units, each consisting of 4 toilets in 4 different informal camps (one in Al-Zuwayda, one in Deir al-Balah and two in Nuseirat) to serve 358 families and approximately 1700 individuals. Unfortunately, the continuous forced displacement of Gaza families has now caused their savings to be depleted. Thus, families have been stranded in areas totally lacking in facilities. Thousands of people are crammed into makeshift tents, without sanitary facilities, deprived of their dignity. Israeli blockades continue to prevent access for sewage treatment materials and this is causing progressive faecal contamination of the groundwater. With winter looming, the possibility of flooding is great, as already happened in the area of Khan Younis and Al Mawasi in late September. Such floods pose a huge health risk and have a serious impact on the dignity and resilience of the population. According to UNICEF, under these conditions children are almost 20 times more likely to die of diarrhoeal diseases than from bombs . This is why our 'hygiene boxes' pursue the dual objective of safeguarding the dignity of displaced families and not feeding the very serious water contamination that causes infectious diseases.
SECURING TENTS
As winter approaches, the needs of the people of Gaza increase, as do the catastrophic risks of disease and famine. In al-Mawasi, in the central area of the Gaza Strip, we were able to secure the worn-out tents of about 200 families with water-repellent tarps that withstand the elements.
All this was made possible by the generosity of those who donated, and by the work of UAWC's highly specialised team in Gaza, who made distributions according to need and to those who needed it most.
The siege of Gaza continues and hunger and thirst are used as weapons of war, despite the fact that international conventions and humanitarian law prohibit this. With the arrival of summer, the lack of access to drinking water is multiplying gastrointestinal diseases and typhoid and cholera epidemics are feared. Dozens of boys and girls have now died from hunger and dehydration. In addition, the Israeli army's possible offensive in Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians live crammed in, risks multiplying the current humanitarian catastrophe tenfold.
We sincerely thank those who donated individually and collectively, supporting the 'Water for Gaza' campaign, testifying to the attention and solidarity of Italian civil society far removed from the government's positions.
How we manage to bring water and food to the Gaza Strip
Activities are carried out through a combination of direct distribution to families and collaboration with local organisations to reach the most vulnerable populations. Our local partner, UAWC, uses mobile distribution units for areas with limited access and establishes distribution points in areas that are less at risk of Israeli attack.
The fresh part of the food parcels is obtained from the few farmers who, despite the difficulties, continue to cultivate in Der-al-Balah and Khan Yunis, where the attempt to economically resist the brutal military siege continues. These farmers are in contact with the local UAWC committees, which buy their produce. The funds arrive from Ramallah to the Committees' bank accounts, which then package and distribute the food parcels.
Non-fresh food is procured through the few trucks that manage to enter, focusing only on essentials such as oil and canned goods. Products that have been subject to spiralling prices. Water is taken from two still functioning wells in the south and then distributed via cisterns, in a system consolidated during the years of siege.
UAWC is trying to rehabilitate two wells in the north for the people left behind, with the intention of using solar panels if possible. This effort is also an act of resistance, a demonstration that the land belongs to the community.
Meanwhile, the situation of the wells in the south is being mapped in the hope of rehabilitating them as far as possible. The rehabilitation of the wells is one of the first emergency activities being undertaken, all in cooperation with the local UAWC committees.
Our work continues
We continue to strongly denounce the genocide carried out by Israel against the people of Gaza. We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and we join the call of our Palestinian partner UAWC, which:
We invite those who support us to:
"The efforts you are making to support us represent a vital contribution, and remind us that there is still good in the world. Every drop of water in this ocean of need counts, and will make a difference to so many".
This is the message from our partners in the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) to all the people who are supporting us.
