World Jewish Relief continues to stand with Israelis, as the conflict enters its 22nd month and we long for the safe return of all the hostages. They must come home now. The violence of the last 21 months has left deep scars in the country we love, and World Jewish Relief remains deeply committed to providing trauma support to Israelis, alongside trusted partners like the Israel Trauma Coalition. You can read more about our ongoing support to Israelis here.
At the same time, we cannot and should not forget the many thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza who are suffering in an acute humanitarian crisis. A year ago, World Jewish Relief partnered with a trusted global humanitarian responder to deliver specialised care to mothers and babies in Gaza through field hospitals which do not use Gazan Ministry of Health staff and do not treat armed combatants.
After conducting extensive due diligence, World Jewish Relief is pleased to be continuing this life-saving work. In addition, World Jewish Relief is extending its support to IsrAID, a long-standing Israeli humanitarian partner, to procure essential medicines and medical supplies for onward delivery to three COGAT approved humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza.
World Jewish Relief’s work in Gaza is also done with the full support of COGAT. This is an arm of the Israel Defense Forces that uniquely reports directly to the Ministry of Defense, mandated to coordinate all civilian issues in Gaza and the West Bank, between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, bi-lateral partners, international organizations, diplomats and the Palestinian Authority among other counterparts. It operates under fully approved Israeli government policy. This work in Gaza has been funded through separate private and restricted donations.
As a 90-year-old Jewish humanitarian agency, our job is to assist communities in crisis, and our Jewish values guide all our work. We are grateful for the ongoing support of this critical work from all the mainstream communal bodies including Orthodox, Progressive and Sephardi synagogue movements in the UK, and key communal leaders including the Chief Rabbi. We know there is so much more to do in Israel, in Gaza, in Ukraine and across the world – and we will continue to do our part. These are our Jewish values.