January 15, 2025 — A temporary ceasefire will offer only temporary respite to Palestinians in Gaza. A massive and immediate increase in humanitarian aid and access is needed urgently to help them begin to recover from the immense loss and destruction that have engulfed their lives for 15 months.
A sustained ceasefire remains the only way to protect civilians and provide some relief in the face of unrelenting bombardment and siege imposed by Israeli authorities for more than a year.
CARE welcomes the agreement to exchange a number of hostages and detainees and calls on all parties to the conflict to engage in the three-phase process in good faith to ensure the return of hostages and arbitrarily detained people to their families.
CARE urges all parties to the conflict and those with influence to make every diplomatic effort to secure a long-term ceasefire, and address root causes to prevent a repeat of the horror that the region has endured.
“Conditions must be created right now to allow humanitarian organisations to safely carry out their work, quickly reach people wherever they are in Gaza, and massively scale up their operations so we can stem the overwhelming tide of suffering,” said Deepmala Mahla, CARE’s Global Humanitarian Director. “Today, we honor the memory of the hundreds of humanitarian workers who were killed doing their duty of trying to help those in need and hope that this ceasefire will allow us to adequately address the immense and catastrophic needs.”
More than 46,000 people have been killed with over 109,000 more injured, with researchers estimating that the death toll is about 40% higher than the official number. About 90 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million have been displaced and forced to live in squalid conditions while on the brink of hunger. It is also estimated that 69% of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or severely to moderately damaged.
As a result of daily bombardment for 465 days, Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, while it is estimated that at least 22,500 have suffered life-changing injuries and will need rehabilitation support for years to come. The number of unprotected orphans in Gaza now ranges between 17,000 and 18,000, many of whom are unaccompanied by any family members.
Women are three times more likely to miscarry and three times more likely to die in childbirth compared to pre-conflict rates. As the smoke of bombing clears, people must try to rebuild their ruined homes and communities, which are littered with unexploded ordnance.
CARE and our Palestinian partner NGOs have been working tirelessly under the shadow of bombs to reach people in Gaza with clean water, medical treatment, shelter kits and hygiene supplies, despite a lack of adequate equipment.
Israel, as the occupying power, must allow full and unrestricted humanitarian access into and across all parts of Gaza and must allow displaced Palestinians to return to their areas of origin across the Gaza Strip. It is critical that aid reaches those who are most vulnerable, including women and girls.
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