Charity calls for Gaza sponsors

Faced with the ongoing crisis and suffering in Gaza, particularly for children, SOS Children is appealing for more sponsors to help innocent palestinian children live some sort of more normal life. We are also appealing for donors to help with our hospital centre and other projects in Gaza. The hopsital which has been closed for seven days due to air strikes, will be completely inundated as soon as it is safe to go there.

Our village in the Gaza Strip is based in Deir Sultan, 10 miles from Rafah-Gaza and comprises 12 family houses and a nursery with room for 160, mostly local, children.

The SOS Social Centre has been closed since the Israeli campaign began on December 27th and staff and volunteers are having to stay at home. Even the emergency medical centre has been shut, forced to discharge patients - even those who are in a critical condition. Government buildings close to the Social Centre have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes.

Gaza is witnessing shortages of food and medical supplies and its hospitals can barely cope with the number of injured patients arriving. Many residents of Gaza have fled their homes to seek refuge in the streets, despite the cold weather. In response to the crisis, SOS Children, through its Family Strengthening Programmes, is helping 900 children in 187 families by providing food parcels, academic support and child care activities.

Many children and their families have also been displaced after their houses were destroyed by air raids. Many families whose houses remain intact have fled fearing they too may be targetted. SOS Children staff are working hard to provide not only basic food supplies, but also to offer psychological support to children who have been affected. Read more about SOS Children's response to the Gaza crisis

SOS Children has been working in the Palestine since 1966 and has been running projects to look after orphans there for 40 years. SOS Children also runs a mobile peace project on the West Bank to try to stop young Palestinian children getting pulled into the cycle of violence.