Today marks two years since the onset of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis. The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) continues to stand in solidarity with those affected, working alongside the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) and Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to deliver life-saving aid and restore dignity amidst devastation. 

SRC’s latest shipment of humanitarian aid, comprising tents for an estimated 6,500 displaced individuals, has arrived in Gaza through the Karam Abo Salem Crossing, to provide shelter and restore dignity for over 6,500 displaced individuals in Gaza. (More details in our earlier announcement - handover of SGD$1.2million in humanitarian aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent)

Saving lives and restoring dignity must be a priority. The Red Cross Red Crescent movement reiterates its urgent call for a cessation of hostilities to end the abhorrent suffering of the civilian population.

Since October 2023, intensified hostilities in Gaza have driven a sharp escalation in humanitarian needs. With more than 67,000 casualties reported and extensive infrastructure destruction, the crisis has resulted in widespread displacement and deepened existing vulnerabilities. Many displaced individuals have been forced to relocate multiple times, worsening the already fragile humanitarian conditions. The ongoing crisis underscores the urgent need for sustained international assistance. 

To date, the SRC has contributed SGD 1.9 million in humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, channelled through the Egyptian Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which included medical supplies, hygiene kits, food provisions, water filtration systems, food parcels, and the operation of the Red Cross Field Hospital. This also included the deployment of an operations coordinator and an 8-person team to assist the ERCS with relief operations in 2024. In addition, SRC is supporting a mobile education unit, where a van will be retrofitted into a classroom to provide informal education for Palestinian children in Egypt. SRC is also contributing to initiatives that deliver medical, mental health, and community health services to Palestinian families residing in Egypt. 

SRC has also contributed an additional SGD 500,000 for the relief operations through its other partners in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) has been providing ambulance and other core health-care services in extremely dangerous circumstances, caring for the many people wounded in the conflict. With the little medical resources that currently exist in Gaza, the PRCS is focused on providing life-saving support to the civilians who have been impacted by this escalation.

Today, medical personnel are working under extreme conditions with limited supplies and equipment as they struggle to absorb a daunting surge in weapon-wounded. Even as conditions continue to deteriorate, many civilians have no choice but to stay in Gaza because they can’t afford the journey south or are unable to transport injured, sick, or elderly relatives. Families are living in the rubble of destroyed homes or in the streets, desperate for safety and the essentials to live in dignity.

With ongoing hostilities and restrictions on the entry of humanitarian relief supplies and equipment, the needs of the civilian population remain immense.