A first-hand account from a Mission and Service partner
of The United Church of Canada

Damaged buildings and debris in Gaza in October 2023.
Credit: Act Alliance

~ published on The United Church of Canada’s website on October 27, 2023

“They changed the face of Gaza. You can’t recognize the locations and you feel that this is a strange place, as if you never been there,” writes Nader Abu Amsha, Executive Secretary of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East Council of Churches, a Mission and Service partner. “The biggest concern is the fear and horror people are going through, where there is no possible safe place anywhere in Gaza, and those who are still alive, they live only by God’s mercy.”

While there is no further damage to the DSPR offices, the clinic in Al Shagaeieh and the hall used for children’s activities are completely burned. There is no news on the clinic in Al Daraj because DSPR in Jerusalem has lost contact with anyone there, and the Rafah Clinic, while intact at the time of writing this letter, is not functioning.

Many of DSPR’s staff are displaced, dislocated from their homes and jobs, and forced to try to find safety in southern Gaza or with family in places that are safe for now. Christian staff and most of the Area Committee members and their families are seeking refuge in Orthodox or Catholic churches.

Food, water, and fuel for generators are scarce, writes Abu Amsha. With the West Bank under closure, there is no movement allowed for Palestinians between districts, and supplies aren’t reaching nothern Gaza. Some shops have food and other materials, but these items are quickly running out.

“The food, water and medical supplies that reached Rafah in southern Gaza include two trucks of water, three trucks of food, and 15 trucks of medical supplies,” he writes. “It’s a very little amount for about 2.5 million people.”

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The United Church of Canada provides three ways of helping:

• ADVOCATE by sending a letter to your MP using our new advocacy tool.
• DONATE to Mission and Service partners who are currently responding to those impacted by the conflict in West Bank and East Jerusalem, and to the response that is urgently needed in Gaza as soon as safe humanitarian access is made possible through our joint advocacy
• PRAY for peace with justice in the Middle East.