The challenges of providing aid in Gaza: one year of lifesaving work amid the ongoing bombardment

As the recent escalation in Palestine reached the one-year mark, approximately 322 aid workers and 986 health workers have been killed amongst the 43,204 deaths. 

We are relieved that so far, no Islamic Relief staff have been injured or killed – however all Islamic Relief staff have become displaced, many repeatedly, and are affected in the same ways as the rest of the people of Gaza.  

Several staff have lost family members in the bombardment since October 2023. 

Amid the dire situation, one of our aid workers in Gaza* began documenting his experiences whilst under siege alongside his wife and two young children. 

Here, we explore the challenges of providing aid in Gaza through his eyes, providing an insight into the firsthand experience of the violence and suffering due to Israel’s blockade in Gaza. 

Providing aid amongst bombing and violence 

For humanitarian workers, one of the main challenges is trying to keep safe when there is nowhere to seek safety.  

Only days into the escalation, our colleague explained: “Moving from place to place is very dangerous – ambulances and police cars are the only vehicles in the streets when I look out my window. I am sometimes afraid to even look outside,” he said.

In August 2024, Israel targeted a space for prayer at al-Tabeen School, where hundreds of displaced families had been sheltering. 

This incident shook our colleague’s team. “We used to deliver hot meals to that place every day. It was home to hundreds of displaced families,” his fellow team member told him. “Any one of our teammates could have been among those who passed away.” 

Our colleague explained his fears for his own life as he continues providing aid for the people of Gaza: “Every day I go to work thinking an airstrike could hit nearby. I went to meet with displaced families at one of the schools that have been turned into shelters and I was so afraid that something would happen while I was there, especially as targeting schools is the norm these days.  

“I can’t imagine why on Earth a school, mosque or hospital could be seen as a target.” 

Living a lifetime of suffering 

The people of Palestine have lived through many massacres and displacement orders, even before the escalation.  

Our colleague recalled how he has witnessed 2 intifadas, tens of invasions, and countless escalations at the mere age of 40. 

“Our team was delivering vegetables at the school-turned-shelter. A man told me that it had been a long time since he’d been able to get any vegetables, and he was overwhelmed knowing he’d be bringing some back to his family.  

“These people used to get good food for their families, but now it’s a struggle to even get some vegetables,” he reflected.  

“Families are now taking plastic gallon containers out with them in search of water,” he said. “We are flushing the toilet only 2 times a day, in the morning and at night, and we’re eating less food to avoid going to the toilet as regularly. 

“We wash for prayers only once or twice. My mum decided that only the adults can use water for this, the children will pray after performing tayammum [ritual cleansing without water].” 

Lack of food 

Our teams in Gaza have distributed more than 42 million hot meals to those in need, but they are no strangers to feeling the effects of hunger and increased cost of living. 

In many of his accounts, our colleague speaks of not being able to provide food for his family – “not because I don’t have money, but because there is no food” he explains. “The markets are empty. I can’t explain that to my children. Not even to my cat.” 

“Most of our diet is canned food. My daughter often has stomach-ache and pain due to poor food, while my son only has one meal a day, so he is hungry most of the time,” he said in one account.  

“All around me, I notice people becoming much thinner,” another account stated.

“Children are suffering the most, especially those that need special formula or flour. My family managed to ration our consumption of bread, water… everything. But I noticed my kids’ skin getting yellowish and pale from the poor diet.”

Displacement and loss 

Up to 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza in the last year, and our aid workers are also among these figures. They face evacuation orders from their homes or places of refuge multiple times, and with nowhere safe to go.