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AMURTEL EGYPT/GAZA RELIEF

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Overview

AMURTEL volunteers are working in Egypt to support Palestinians seeking shelter from the conflict and violence in Gaza. We also provide support for those living in displacement camps within Gaza and surviving in unimaginable conditions. By early 2025, the UN estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s total population had been displaced due to the ongoing conflict. UNICEF estimated nearly all of the territory’s people were facing high levels of food insecurity, and 95% of Gaza’s school buildings were damaged or destroyed. The conflict has left over 2 million people homeless, without income, and completely dependent on food assistance. These people are facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions that threatens their very survival.

The need is overwhelming, the challenges are enormous, and this will be true for years to come.

AMURTEL’S response to this disaster is centered in three areas:

1- Gazan Relief in Cairo

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinian families are currently taking refuge in Cairo, where they have no shelter, food, or financial resources.  Displaced Gazan families do not have Egyptian visas, and therefore children cannot register in public schools and their parents are not allowed work permits.

AMURTEL volunteers in Cairo put together care packages for Palestinian women and children, source, purchase, and distribute medical supplies, and provide psychological support for emotional trauma. They provide support for Gazan orphans through an international sponsorship program that helps to cover the cost of rent, food, schooling, and other necessities.

Threads of Hope is an AMURTEL-funded initiative for displaced Gazan women.  Tatreez, an embroidery style unique to the Palestinian culture, is taught in a three-month training course by Alaa, an expert in this art, who had her own company and shop in Gaza before it was bombed. The initiative provides groups of women with skill-building and materials to make embroidered goods to sell. Using international connections, AMURTEL is also helping to provide a worldwide market for these goods. The training includes facilitated sharing of war trauma, grief, and shock, as well as mutual support by the women listening with empathy to each other’s stories.

2- Gazan Relief in Al Arish, Egypt (in the border area with Gaza)

Education for Gazan children has been disrupted for several years. AMURTEL volunteers in Al Arish, Egypt, a city close to the Rafah border crossing, have partnered with Palestinian teachers to run a Safe Space School for Gazan children. Educational and emotional support are equally emphasized in a calm and nurturing environment.

AMURTEL volunteers distribute Mother and Baby bags, clothing, food baskets, children’s study kits, children’s shoes, and medicine. They also make home visits to Palestinians who were hospitalized for injuries from the conflict and help with food, medication, and clothes for this often-overlooked group of people.

“While people struggle to receive aid from trucks, we provide aid to the vulnerable with the warm touch of human kindness and dignity. We support Palestinians to help each other.”

3- Gazan Relief in Displacement Camps and Towns in Southern Gaza

Many in Gaza lack the basic necessities of life. AMURTEL is partnering with in-country volunteers to provide supplies in several camps and towns in Southern Gaza. Clean water has become an increasingly scarce resource. AMURTEL funds trucks that distribute potable water to areas where Palestinians have no access to clean water, such as the Al Mawasi Camp, the Khan Yunis area, and Rafah.

Food, along with water, has become increasingly difficult to obtain. AMURTEL provides funding for our partners to purchase, transport, package, and distribute food baskets to families. Priority is given to widows and their children, the orphaned, the pregnant, the elderly, the sick, the wounded, and the disabled.

Schools provide educational and emotional support to children who are experiencing trauma and life disruptions daily. AMURTEL supports three Safe Space Schools, two in Al Mawasi Camp and one in Zawaida Camp. About 200 families benefit from this support.

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