Local humanitarian groups have seen a flood of donations since war broke out in Israel and Gaza last weekend. But those groups have struggled to get aid to the people who need it inside Gaza because of Israel’s blockade.
“We’re raising funds, but you can’t get the funds in, and you can’t get supplies in,” said John Kahler, co-founder of MedGlobal, a Rolling Meadows-based nonprofit that provides medical aid to vulnerable populations across the globe.
Gaza’s only power station ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday, with hospital generators just days from running out of gas for the thousands of wounded being treated. A U.N. report lists more than 650,000 people as facing water shortages in Gaza, and a desalinization plant that served more than 1 million Palestinians was damaged in recent attacks.
Israeli officials said the aid blockade would continue until the approximately 150 hostages taken by Hamas over the weekend were returned.
Kahler’s group has nine staff members — doctors, nurses and project coordinators — at a hospital in Gaza City, where he said they’ve been working nonstop since last Saturday.
Despite not being able to ship in aid, his group has been able to buy existing supplies in Gaza on credit. They’ve bought $100,000 in medical supplies and 600,000 gallons of diesel for the hospital’s generator, he said.
The stockpile of supplies and fuel could become useless if an impending Israeli ground assault puts their hospital out of commission. Nearly 20 medical facilities have already been damaged by Israeli strikes, with 11 medical workers killed during the attacks.
“Depending on what happens over the next couple days with these hospitals and clinics, it may be gone anyway,” Kahler said.
His group has 400 volunteer doctors and surgeons ready to travel to the region and help, but they’re unable to enter, he said. MedGlobal is negotiating with Egypt to set up a hospital on its border where they can treat the wounded from Gaza, he said.
Kahler said Egypt historically refused to open up a humanitarian corridor.
Vivian Khalaf, a Palos Hills-based immigration attorney and chair of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, said her group has two doctors in Gaza, but they’re no longer safe and are trying to escape.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has also struggled to get aid into Gaza.
The group has raised $3 million since the war began. Like MedGlobal, it is buying supplies and food on credit.
The group has purchased 300 pallets of food but has been unable to find someone who can ship it within the country, Khalaf said.
Even finding existing supplies has become a challenge as warehouses are bombed, she said.
