CLEVELAND — A local non-profit is trying to send aid to Gaza but can’t get in due to the Israeli blockade. Now, they fear how many lives will be lost due to the lack of resources and aid.
In Gaza, there are more than 2 million people, with 50% of the population considered children. Before the war, 97% of the water was undrinkable, and the United Nations labeled the area “inhabitable” in 2018.
The strip has been under siege and Israeli military occupation for the past 16 years. Since the start of the war, Israel intensified their siege by cutting off the power grid and preventing anyone from going in or out. Which has many concerned about humanitarian needs.
For Shouq Al-Najjar, she had to flee from her home in Gaza and head to the south because of Israeli bombings.
“They're killing. They're bombing, there's airstrike everywhere,” said Najjar.
But even there, she says she's not safe, and the lack of resources makes it harder.
“There's no water, no electricity, no clean water as well, and we cannot get any gas to fuel the generator to push up water from the well,” said Najjar
It is especially hard for those in the hospital.
“The hospitals are filled with injured and dead children,” said Najjar.
Steve Sosebee is the founder and president of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF). He says since the start of the war, they received more than 8 million dollars in donations.
“There's so much goodwill and people want to do something. They see the suffering, they see the hardship of children in Gaza, and they feel very obligated to do something for them,” said Sosebee.
PCRF started in Ohio and has been providing medical aid for kids in Gaza since 1991, stating that before the recent events, it was already hard to get supplies in.
“This condition of people being isolated in the Gaza Strip and not having access to adequate health or basic services, particularly in the health sector, has been going on for some time now,” said Sosebee.
And now it’s even worse since the Rafah border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt has been closed due to Israeli bombing. So, no aid has been able to go in.
“There are literally hundreds of trucks at the Egyptian border waiting to bring in basic necessities, and so, then we're a part of that core humanitarian response as well,” said Sosebee.
Knowing the dire conditions, Steve fears that lives in Gaza will be lost simply due to the lack of access to medicine, water and resources.
“We have 10 kids in our cancer department that are running out of chemotherapy drugs, and are getting sicker, and then we have 50 other kids with cancer in Gaza who can't reach the hospital on their appointment times to get their infusions,” Sosebee continued, “ You have all of these people in hospitals, on ventilators and in the intensive care units who have been injured. Many of the children are on the brink of having that equipment and those machines turned off because the fuel and the generators that run the hospitals is running out, and there's been no replacement.”
He also has two American doctors stuck there, that he's been trying to get out, adding that even in war, humanitarian needs should never be taken away.
“I think first and foremost is to remember that these are human beings. They're not Hamas. They're not animals. They're not non-feeling entities that can be dehumanized and treated in the most inhumane manner, which we're seeing today,” said Sosebee.
For Shouq, she fears that every time she closes her eyes, there’s a possibility she won’t wake up due to an airstrike. She just wants a ceasefire and freedom, so her people can live.
“It is not political. This is a human crisis. People that have any sense of humanity must speak up,” said Shouq.
The US and Israel are discussing a plan to enable aid from donor nations to reach civilians in Gaza, but they have yet to announce a timeline.
