Despite daunting odds, Catholic Relief Services and its on-the-ground partners have managed to deliver aid to 1.7 million in Gaza since 2023, according to new data.
On 29 July, CRS—the official relief and development agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops—updated its diocesan coordinators regarding efforts to provide essential assistance to the population of Gaza, where CRS has maintained a continuous presence since 1984.
Amid “severe access limitations and aid blockades,” CRS and its partners have still managed to supply basic needs as well as psychosocial support, wrote CRS diocesan engagement adviser Jesús J Huerta in an email, with the agency “mobilising supplies from Egypt and Jordan” following “the recent humanitarian pause.”
Huerta said that “decades of work with communities, the local Catholic Church and partners in Gaza and the region have enabled our rapid, flexible and impactful response.”
He noted that “our staff and partners continue to operate under grave risk.” Among the aid CRS has so far provided since 2023: shelter assistance (including bedding, living supplies, tarps, tents and shelter repair kits) to 341,790 people; clean water, latrines, hygiene and sanitation kits and supplies to 500,268 people; and psychosocial support to 10,399 children and teens, and to 1,333 caregivers.
