Amman, Jan. 17 (Petra)-- In order to help the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip recover from the losses and devastation that have engulfed their life over the past 15 months, CARE International said that any aid intended for them must be enabled and that the percentage of this aid must be raised quickly and urgently.

In a statement obtained by the Jordan News Agency (Petra), on Friday, the group said that the long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza must result in a halt to the violence, allow for more aid, and offer the Palestinians in Gaza long-term, not short-term, relief.

The statement emphasized that the only option to save people and offer some respite from the ongoing bombardment and siege imposed by the Israelis is to maintain a permanent ceasefire.

In order to guarantee that there is no resumption of violence and to avert additional humanitarian catastrophes, the organization praised the agreement to exchange a number of hostages and detainees and urged all parties to carry out every step of the three-phase procedure.

According to Deepmala Mahla, the organization's director of global humanitarian affairs, "conditions must be created now to allow humanitarian organizations to carry out their work safely, quickly reach people wherever they are in Gaza, and expand their operations widely so that we can stop the overwhelming wave of suffering."

"We hope that this ceasefire will allow us to adequately address the massive and catastrophic needs," she continued, "and we honor the memory of the hundreds of humanitarian workers who were killed while trying to help those in need."

According to the statement, 465 days of daily shelling have left an estimated 69 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip destroyed or severely or moderately damaged, forcing the people of Gaza to live in appalling conditions on the verge of hunger. With at least 22,500 children thought to have had life-altering injuries and will require rehabilitation assistance for years to come, Gaza currently has the highest percentage of kid amputees per capita. The quantity of unprotected orphans in Gaza now ranges between 17,000 and 18,000 children, most of whom are unaccompanied by any family member.

"As the smoke from the bombing clears, people have to try to rebuild their destroyed homes and communities, which are littered with unexploded ordnance," she continued, adding that women are three times more likely to miscarry and die during childbirth than they were before the conflict.

Despite the lack of adequate equipment, the group acknowledged that it worked tirelessly with Palestinian partner organizations to provide clean water, medical care, shelter supplies, and hygiene supplies to people in Gaza in spite of the bombing.

Notably, CARE is a worldwide organization dedicated to humanitarian causes, rescuing victims of oppression and injustice, combating poverty, and establishing social justice. Since 1948, when it first established offices in Jordan, the organization has worked to improve the lives of the weak and refugees escaping the horrors of war, particularly in the Middle East.

//Petra// MF

17/01/2025 22:14:44