Rebuilding Hope: ARO's Healing Gaza Campaign in Numbers

When the conflict in Gaza intensified in late 2023, it triggered one of the most severe humanitarian crises in recent history. The toll has been devastating: over 45,000 lives lost, 1.9 million people displaced, and widespread acute food insecurity, according to United Nations and humanitarian monitoring data. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, critical infrastructure has been decimated, and essential services like healthcare, water, and sanitation have collapsed.

In the midst of this crisis, the Healing Gaza Campaign, run by Advocates of Silenced Turkey (ARO), has emerged as a targeted, data-driven humanitarian effort—restoring health, dignity, and stability for the people of Gaza. While emotion drives much of the conversation about Gaza, the numbers tell their own powerful story—one of urgency, scale, and measurable impact.

The Scale of Destruction

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other humanitarian sources confirm the scope of devastation:

• Over 45,000 fatalities since the escalation began, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health as reported by OCHA

• 1.9 million people—about 90% of Gaza's population—have been displaced during the war

• More than 60% of residential buildings are damaged or destroyed

• Large sections of the electricity grid are offline, leaving communities without power for extended periods

• Water and sanitation systems have collapsed, forcing families to rely on unsafe water sources

Displacement represents far more than the simple loss of shelter. It means separation from loved ones, complete collapse of livelihoods, and heightened risk of illness, malnutrition, and long-term psychological instability. For children especially, displacement creates educational disruption that can affect their development for years to come.

Food Insecurity Crisis

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and humanitarian organizations have documented unprecedented hunger across Gaza's population. The statistics paint a dire picture of survival-level conditions:

Nearly the entire population faces acute food insecurity, with families regularly going without adequate nutrition. Many consume only one meal per day or survive on bread and water for extended periods.

Staple foods such as flour, rice, and cooking oil have become scarce commodities, with remaining supplies often priced beyond the reach of displaced families who have lost their income sources. Local markets, where they still exist, struggle with destroyed infrastructure and limited supply chains that make consistent food distribution nearly impossible.

Limited water availability compounds the food crisis by reducing safe cooking capabilities and proper hygiene practices, creating conditions that increase the spread of gastrointestinal diseases. This creates a dangerous cycle where malnutrition weakens immune systems just as sanitation challenges increase infection risks.

ARO's Healing Gaza Campaign has prioritized comprehensive food assistance alongside medical and shelter aid. Through carefully coordinated efforts with local partners, the program distributes essential dry goods, specialized baby formula for infants, and ready-to-eat meals specifically designed for displaced families living in overcrowded shelters and makeshift community centers.

Healthcare System Collapse

The destruction of Gaza's healthcare infrastructure represents one of the most urgent aspects of the current crisis. World Health Organization and OCHA reports reveal the devastating scope of medical system breakdown:

60% of hospitals are completely non-functional due to direct damage from bombardment or critical shortages of fuel, electricity, and essential supplies. The remaining 40% of facilities operate far beyond their designed capacity, treating tens of thousands of trauma cases alongside chronic care patients with dramatically reduced staff and resources.

Essential medical supplies including anesthesia, antibiotics, oxygen tanks, and surgical equipment are in critically short supply. This shortage forces medical professionals to make impossible decisions about patient care, often performing emergency procedures without adequate pain management or infection prevention resources.

Routine medical services that form the backbone of public health—including prenatal care, chronic disease management, childhood vaccinations, and preventive screenings—have been severely disrupted or completely suspended. This disruption creates long-term health consequences that will persist well beyond the immediate crisis.

Mental health services, already limited before the conflict, have become virtually non-existent precisely when psychological support is most desperately needed. The combination of trauma, displacement, and uncertainty creates mental health challenges that affect entire families and communities.

ARO's medical relief strategy focuses on delivering portable diagnostic equipment, emergency surgical kits, and essential pharmaceutical supplies to the healthcare facilities that remain operational. The organization also funds urgent operations for both conflict-related injuries and untreated pre-existing medical conditions that have worsened due to the crisis and lack of regular care.

Displacement and Shelter Emergency

The displacement crisis in Gaza represents one of the largest forced population movements in recent decades relative to the territory's size:

1.9 million people have been displaced during the war, representing about 90% of Gaza's population according to UN reports. This mass displacement has created overcrowding conditions that strain every aspect of the humanitarian response.

More than 900,000 people are currently taking refuge in UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) shelters, with many facilities operating at 500% of their intended capacity. Schools, community centers, and other public buildings have been converted to emergency shelters, but these spaces were never designed for long-term habitation by large numbers of families.

Overcrowding in these facilities accelerates the spread of respiratory infections, skin diseases, and gastrointestinal illnesses. The psychological impact of overcrowding, combined with trauma from conflict and uncertainty about the future, creates particular stress for children, who make up nearly half of Gaza's population.

Families who cannot access formal shelters often live in partially destroyed buildings, abandoned structures, or open-air encampments with minimal protection from weather and security risks. These informal settlements lack basic services like sanitation, clean water, and waste management.

ARO's shelter intervention program provides comprehensive support including weatherproof tent kits, mattresses, warm blankets, waterproof tarpaulins, and other essential items that help families create livable spaces whether in formal shelters or informal settlements. The program prioritizes families with young children, elderly members, or individuals with disabilities who face particular vulnerabilities in displacement situations.

Healing Gaza Campaign: Measurable Impact

Since its launch, the Healing Gaza Campaign has maintained a focus on creating trackable, verifiable impact that demonstrates effective resource utilization. Current achievements include:

Hundreds of metric tons of dry food and safe drinking water distributed across displacement shelters and community distribution points. This food assistance includes culturally appropriate staples like rice, lentils, flour, and cooking oil, as well as specialized nutrition products for infants and children.

Tens of thousands of liters of clean drinking water delivered daily to vulnerable communities through water trucking services and distribution of water purification tablets. Clean water distribution addresses both immediate hydration needs and supports basic hygiene practices that prevent disease outbreaks.

Comprehensive medical supply shipments sent regularly to partner clinics and the remaining functional hospitals, enabling trauma surgery, maternal care, infection control, and management of chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension that become life-threatening without proper medication.

Shelter kits delivered to hundreds of families living in high-risk areas or exposed conditions, providing immediate protection and dignity for some of Gaza's most vulnerable residents.

By maintaining rigorous tracking and verification systems, ARO ensures that each donor contribution directly translates to measurable improvements in the lives of Gaza's residents. This accountability approach builds trust with supporters while maximizing the effectiveness of limited resources.

The Strategic Importance of Data-Driven Humanitarian Response

Statistics in humanitarian contexts serve purposes far beyond documentation—they fundamentally shape relief strategies, enable progress measurement, and ensure accountability to both beneficiaries and donors. In Gaza's complex crisis environment, data-driven approaches prove essential for several reasons:

Mortality and injury figures direct medical triage decisions and emergency supply allocation, helping organizations prioritize the most critical interventions when resources are limited. Understanding casualty patterns also helps predict future medical needs and prepare appropriate responses.

Displacement data informs decisions about where shelter resources, sanitation facilities, and food distribution points are most urgently needed. Population movement tracking also helps organizations avoid duplicating services while ensuring that newly displaced families receive assistance quickly.

Food security assessments help humanitarian organizations plan nutrition-focused interventions for particularly vulnerable populations including infants, pregnant women, elderly residents, and individuals with chronic medical conditions that require specialized dietary support.

Water and sanitation monitoring prevents disease outbreaks by identifying areas where contamination risks are highest and ensuring that clean water reaches the most vulnerable populations first.

This evidence-based approach allows organizations like ARO to respond quickly and effectively while ensuring that limited resources are deployed where they will create the greatest positive impact for the largest number of people.

Building Systematic Recovery

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to evolve, but the Healing Gaza Campaign demonstrates that even in the most challenging environments, meaningful progress is possible when aid efforts are carefully coordinated, completely transparent, and driven by measurable outcomes rather than good intentions alone.

Every blanket delivered to a displaced family provides immediate warmth and dignity while contributing to broader efforts to maintain community cohesion during displacement. Every liter of clean water distributed prevents waterborne illness while supporting basic hygiene practices that protect entire communities from disease outbreaks.

Every surgical kit supplied to remaining hospitals enables medical professionals to save lives today while maintaining the healthcare infrastructure that communities will need for long-term recovery. These individual interventions combine to create systematic support that helps communities survive immediate challenges while preserving the foundations needed for eventual rebuilding.

The focus on measurable impact also creates learning opportunities that improve future humanitarian responses. By tracking what works, what doesn't, and why, organizations can continuously refine their approaches to create greater efficiency and effectiveness in crisis situations.

A Foundation for Tomorrow

Gaza's humanitarian crisis represents an ongoing emergency that demands immediate response, but effective aid organizations like ARO recognize that today's interventions must also contribute to tomorrow's recovery possibilities. By maintaining rigorous standards for impact measurement and accountability, the Healing Gaza Campaign creates not just immediate relief but also the systematic foundations that communities need for eventual healing and rebuilding.

In Gaza today, hope is being methodically rebuilt through the accumulation of countless individual acts of assistance—each one measured, verified, and designed to contribute to both immediate survival and long-term recovery. The numbers tell a story not just of crisis, but of coordinated human compassion translated into concrete action that makes a difference in real lives during their most desperate hour of need.