“Donations made before 7 PM Eastern Time, October 25, 2024, qualify for a boost.”  www.LaunchGood.com/medicine4gaza

Friends,

I write this update at a time of profound sadness that the Israeli military’s violent onslaught against Gaza is continuing unabated. At this exact moment in Gaza’s north, the Israeli military is conducting air strikes on schools that housed internally displaced Palestinians, besieging the area’s hospitals threatening the lives of everyone inside, and ethnically cleansing the population through forced relocation, abduction, and murder.

Meanwhile, the pace of destruction in the middle area and Gaza’s south has continued. The Israeli military has systematically destroyed the majority of Gaza’s hospitals, with only 15 remaining partially functional. All sanitation facilities have been destroyed, and few water resources are left. According to the UN, 90% of the Palestinian population has been displaced with many forced to move up to 10 times. The Israeli government has tightened its squeeze on Gaza by withholding life-saving medicine, food, water, clothing, and shelter supplies. This has rapidly intensified the effects of the Israeli government’s brutal 17-year siege on the Gaza Strip, which has trapped Palestinians in what nearly every human rights organization on earth has called an open-air prison.

But just as Israel’s genocidal war persists, so, too, do the Palestinians.

Our colleagues on the ground have maintained the Glia Field Clinic since March. With your generous donations, we were able to transform what was originally a temporary tent with a bookshelf that housed pharmaceuticals, into a semi-permanent structure that contains three private consult rooms, an office, a waiting room, and a pharmacy. Weekly, our doctors, nurses, and support staff treat roughly 500 patients, providing free primary healthcare and medicines. While we are currently working out a shipment of medicines, staff have been able to procure medicines inside Gaza.

The Glia team was very proud to have our Field Clinic serve as a vaccine distribution point, administering the polio vaccine to children under the age of 10. 

To sustain our vital work and ensure we can continue providing free healthcare to internally displaced Palestinians in Gaza’s middle area, we need your help once again. We are reaching out to ask for your support in helping us raise an additional $100,000 USD to sustain this operation.  Donations made before 7 PM Eastern Time on October 25, 2024, qualify for a boost.

Every dollar you contribute will directly impact our ability to provide free healthcare, medicine, and soon, routine vaccinations. If you are able, please consider making an additional gift or sharing our message with your network, to ensure that we can keep making a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable..

Thank you once again for your unwavering support. We are truly grateful to have you as part of our community.

Warm regards,

Dr. Dorotea Gucciardo

Director of Development

Glia

www.glia.org

Delegations:

The members of the 10th delegation finally arrived home after several members were refused exit rights in Rafah.  Plans to send the 11th delegation into Gaza are now underway. 

During their time in Gaza, the medical delegates successfully brought in formula, diapers, baby + children's clothes, and medicine.

Delegates assisted at Emirati Hospital, the only remaining maternity hospital in Rafah, with neonatal intensive care, delivering babies, gynecological considerations, and general operations. 

The hospital realized a huge influx of patients requiring care.  With the population growth from 270,000 before the invasion to 1,200,000 after, there is an overwhelming need for support.  The hospital has been delivering between 1500-1700 babies per month, compared to 70 babies monthly last year. 

Glia remains committed to helping Emirati Hospital throughout this war, and after a cease-fire has been reached, to ensure that an adequate standard of medical care is provided to everyone.

Medical Points:

Deir al-Balah - There are 10,000-20,000 displaced residents in this region.  Glia is proposing a primary healthcare medical point here to serve the current residents and those returning to the north from Rafah once a cease-fire has been reached.

Zawaida Field Clinic  - Evolving from the original Medical Access Points, the Zawaida Field Clinic has been constructed.  It is a semi-permanent structure serving the thousands of people who have been displaced to this area.  We’ve triaged and treated 1000 patients per month at this location.  This is the only primary health clinic in the Gaza Strip constructed as a field clinic.  The clinic has been treating outbreaks of hepatitis A, gastroenteritis (due to contaminated water), insect bites that are becoming infected for those living in temporary tents, etc. The hope is that this can be used as a model for future field clinics in other areas of Gaza.

Your generous donations will allow us to build out this clinic, expand by erecting new clinics in other areas as needed, and continue our delegation work in Gaza.

UPDATE: Expanding operations

https://youtu.be/EeA4mHlHeL4?si=ljyQrqojSVGVZ34T​

Our sixth delegation just returned from Gaza. While we are continuing to provide medical support and supplies in Rafah's main primary healthcare clinic (Tal al Sultan) and Gaza's last maternity hospital (Emirati), we have expanded our coverage to include the only Emergency Room in Rafah (Najjar).



Our delegations are bringing in much-needed supplies (formula, diapers, baby + children's clothes) in addition to medicine. We are focusing our efforts on the WHO Essential Medications list to ensure that our three sites are receiving high priority medicine. Every dollar counts, and we are so thankful for your continued support.

Our doctors are working very hard to provide the best care for Palestinians suffering the brutal effects of this war. They are documenting disease outbreaks, distressing rates of malnutrition, and burn + blast injuries from exploding bombs and shrapnel among their
patients. The need on the ground is so high -- and while we are doing our best to support the healthcare workers and infrastructure -- that
what is needed most urgently is a ceasefire. Please, continue to contact your political representatives and demand an end to this war.

UPDATE: Glia's Director of Development, Dorotea Gucciardo, recently returned from mission to Gaza. While there, she visited the medical point, located in Zuwaida -- half way between Rafah and Northern Gaza, along the coast. The team of healthcare professionals on the ground (doctors, nurses, and pharmacist) are seeing roughly 150-200 patients per day.

We have plans to expand the clinic area to include a maternity/pediatrics tent in order to continue best serving the needs of the community as it evolves.

Unfortunately, there is a Hepatitis A outbreak in the nearby camp, along with some other infectious, respiratory illnesses. We are working to supply this medical point with the specific medications they request as needs evolve. Your generous donation is making it possible for Gaza's internally displaced people to access this vital healthcare -- thank you!

UPDATE:

Our third delegation has returned from Gaza. Our team of international doctors and nurses performed trauma pediatric surgeries at European General Hospital, wound care at a primary health care clinic, conducted rounds in a burn unit, and treated patients in a non-communicable diseases clinic. Our crew also distributed medications and supplies to three different hospital sites, and were able to provide life-saving medication to a kidney transplant recipient who had not been able to access his therapies since the start of the war.

They've reported back the challenging situation faced not just by healthcare workers, but of all Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are facing food insecurity, inadequate housing and sanitation, and lack of basic supplies. They are living in constant fear and stress about the uncertainty of this conflict, with everyone expressing their hope for peace.

With your continued support, our delegations can continue to provide some relief to the overburdened healthcare sector, and some measure of comfort for all Palestinians in Gaza who have been suffering for far too long.

UPDATE: Our second delegation has recently returned home from Gaza. These remarkable volunteers dedicated their time to caring for infants in a NICU, many of whom are sick, orphaned, and in dire need of attention. Their tireless dedication has had a profound impact, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing continuous care and essential supplies for as long as necessary.

To offer a glimpse into their experiences, we've posted a video featuring one of our delegates sharing their firsthand account from the NICU. You can watch it on our social media platforms:

     • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glia_intl
     • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glia.project
     • Twitter: https://twitter.com/Glia_Intl
     • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gliaorg
     • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@glia_intl

Meanwhile, our third delegation arrived as planned on March 4th. They have picked up where their predecessors left off, providing crucial support to those in need. We'll share more specific details about their work as soon as they become available.

We extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and generous contributions. Your donations are truly making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.

UPDATE: Our team has been tending to neonates at a NICU in Rafah for the past two weeks. The situation is dire. Due to malnutrition among mothers, babies are being born prematurely, and due to insufficient milk and formula, they risk starvation. Among other diagnoses, babies are being reported as suffering from hypothermia, sepsis, respiratory distress syndrome, and poor feeding.