I'll be running the Barcelona Marathon on 10th March 2024 and fundraising for MAP.

Please consider this opportunity to support MAP's response to the ongoing emergency in Gaza and beyond.

🇵🇸❤️

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https://www.map.org.uk/landing-pages/gaza-emergency-situation-2023

Last updated: 20 February 2024

“Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has launched an unprecedented emergency response amid growing critical health needs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, resulting from the current escalation of violence and Israel’s ongoing bombardment and complete siege on Gaza.

On 7 October, Israel launched an extensive aerial bombardment across all areas of Gaza, hitting homes, hospitals, clinics, schools and essential infrastructure. This has resulted in mass casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure:

More than 29,092 Palestinians have been killed, around 51% of whom are children and women.

Thousands more are thought to remain missing under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes

200,000 + housing units damaged or destroyed, roughly 45% of all homes in Gaza.

Israel’s military assault follows attacks in cities and towns surrounding Gaza by Palestinian armed groups which killed at least 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and more than 5,400 injured according to Israeli media.”

...

“This escalation is spilling over into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since 7 October:

Israeli soldiers and settlers killed 393 Palestinians, including 100 children. Over the course of ten weeks, more Palestinians have been killed than in the whole of 2022, already the deadliest year since 2005.

Between 7 Oct-14 Dec, 49 new access obstacles were enforced, and 100 previous obstacles have changed status - bringing the total number of obstacles to 694. Teams are increasingly worried about movement restrictions, with fears that northern areas could be completely cut off.

At least 1,257 people, including 582 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. According to OCHA, a further 915 Palestinians have been displaced following demolitions of their homes or destruction during operations by Israeli forces.”

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“HOW IS MAP RESPONDING?

MAP’s permanent team in Gaza were among the first to respond to the current emergency by releasing more than US$570,000 worth of pre-positioned stocks of drugs, medical disposables, and other humanitarian supplies held in our warehouses to hospitals and shelters.

Working in the most challenging of circumstances, MAP’s team have sourced more than $1.8 million of humanitarian supplies from the local market, which have been distributed to hospitals and shelters. This includes medicines, disposables and lab reagents for hospitals, and mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits for thousands of people displaced from their homes.

MAP has now set up operations in Egypt, where we are procuring additional supplies of medical and other essential items and delivering these to Gaza through the Rafah crossing in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent Society. We have so far delivered $2.5 million USD worth of medical items, including antibiotics, ultrasound gels, intravenous paracetamol, and saline. In the coming weeks we aim to launch our first delegations of medical experts to Gaza.

MAP is calling on the international community to take urgent steps to secure a ceasefire and ensure civilians are safe from attack wherever they are. We are also demanding an end to the siege and the collective punishment of Gaza's population, and unimpeded safe access for humanitarian supplies and medical teams into and around Gaza.

Additionally in the West Bank, with an explosion of Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and growing movement restrictions that restrict the movement of people and health workers, emergency healthcare needs are growing there as well. In response, MAP is working to equip four urgent care centres across the West Bank, as well as frontline emergency medical services with the medicines and equipment they need to treat the wounded, as well as pre-positioning emergency supplies to be released in case of further escalation.”