By Gina Christian, OSV News (OSV News) — Despite daunting odds, Catholic Relief Services and its on-the-ground partners have managed to deliver aid to 1.7 million people in Gaza since 2023, according to new data. On July 29, CRS — the official relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — updated its diocesan coordinators regarding efforts to provide essential assistance to the population of Gaza, where CRS has maintained a continuous presence since 1984. Amid “severe access limitations and aid blockades,” Baltimore-based CRS and its partners have still managed to supply basic needs as well as psychosocial support, wrote CRS diocesan engagement adviser Jesús J. Huerta in his email, with the agency “mobilizing supplies from Egypt and Jordan” following “the recent humanitarian pause.” Israel enacted an 11-week blockade of aid starting in March, in an effort to pressure Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the current war. In late May, aid distribution was resumed under the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a joint initiative of the U.S. and Israel. GHF has drawn international criticism for security concerns surrounding its distribution points, which have been reported to result in numerous fatalities. Israel has also initiated aid drops into Gaza, but humanitarian groups have described them as dangerous and inefficient. Huerta said in his email that “decades of work with communities, the local Catholic Church and partners in Gaza and the region have enabled our (CRS’) rapid, flexible and impactful response.” At the same, he noted that “our staff and partners continue to operate under grave risk.” Death and hunger in a wave of violence that shows no sign of stopping Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, more than 60,000 Palestinians have died, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Some 1,200 Israelis have been killed and more than 5,400 injured. Of the 251 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas that Oct. 7, 50 remain in captivity, with only 20 of them believed to still be alive, with 83 of the hostages confirmed killed to date. More than 100 were released later in 2023; eight...
