DeepL Translation

Good morning, we are happy to see you again! Sitting next to me is our colleague and comrade Dr. Ahmed Mahanna, the program director of the Al-Awda Association. He spent two years in prison. He was arrested at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza and released in early October. He is sitting here with our colleague Jihan Al-Aqloub, who is responsible for fundraising and projects at Al-Awda. And I am Raafat Al-Majdalaawi, Director General of Al-Awda.

The latest general updates on the situation in Gaza are very difficult, especially as Gaza is currently experiencing a severe cold spell and frost. You know that there are currently about 1,000,000 people living in tents. The cold spell, frost, and winds are unfortunately very severe and unprecedented in years. This has a catastrophic impact on the population and the people living in tents. You also know that there are people living in places that have been attacked and destroyed. Unfortunately, these houses have collapsed on top of their inhabitants due to the strength of the wind. Sadly, seven children have lost their lives so far due to the cold and the collapse of tents.

Although food and aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip have improved slightly, most citizens, at least 67 percent, cannot afford to buy enough food or buy it on the markets due to a lack of funds and high prices. In addition, there are delays in the delivery of relief supplies to the Gaza Strip. According to United Nations statistics, a thousand cases in the Gaza Strip are classified as malnutrition. In addition, there are 3,000 patients suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease who do not have access to the necessary medication. Since October 7, only 20 percent of the 3,000 people have been able to obtain the necessary medication. Whether medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or other chronic illnesses—only 20 percent of the 300,000 people have been able to obtain the medication they need.

Unfortunately, there was a ceasefire in Syria in October. But so many have lost their lives since then. Many children died in October due to poor care. As far as supplies to the Gaza Strip are concerned, Israeli occupation forces continue to restrict the arrival of aid. Only 40 percent of the deliveries to the Gaza Strip agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement actually arrive there. In addition, the occupation forces are still restricting the delivery of medical supplies needed for the health care system.

In the Gaza Strip, the delivery of some medicines and medical supplies has improved slightly since mid-October 2025, but 70 percent of the medicines, drugs, and medical supplies needed to operate hospitals and health centers are still unavailable, and stocks in the Gaza Strip have been depleted. With regard to medical supplies and equipment, the occupying forces continue to prevent the delivery of medical equipment needed by hospitals. They prevent the arrival of hospital beds and patient beds. They prevent the arrival of medical diagnostic equipment. They are preventing the arrival of spare parts needed for worn-out medical devices or devices that need maintenance. They are preventing the arrival of generators needed to operate hospitals. They are preventing the arrival of electrical equipment. The occupying forces are preventing the delivery of electrical appliances, solar energy systems, and power generators.

There are also 8,100 patients who need to be treated outside the Gaza Strip, mainly cancer patients. The occupying forces still restrict the authorization for the transfer of these cases outside the Gaza Strip.

The occupying power also continues to severely restrict the delivery of sufficient quantities of diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip through the mechanism approved by the United Nations, putting institutions and hospitals in a difficult position. Last week, Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat had to suspend operations for about 40 hours because it did not have enough diesel for its generators.

Despite all these challenges, the Al-Awda Association has managed to continue providing services to its patients, estimated at around 5,000 per day, through the Al-Awda Medical Complex in the central area of Al-Nuseirat and the nine primary care centers affiliated with the Al-Awda Health and Community Association.

Despite these challenges, there are hopeful signs of progress. For example, Al-Awda teams are currently working to establish several primary health care centers in the northern Gaza Strip in the areas of Beit Lahia Jabalia, Karama, Gaza City, and the eastern areas of the central region. In addition, as mentioned, despite the challenges our work entails, we have achieved something new in recent days by opening a nursery for five families.

This will lead to the promotion of obstetrics by the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, as we have previously offered natural deliveries and caesarean sections and did not have a nursery. Previously, we had to rely on the pediatric wards of other hospitals. Now, Al-Awda is focusing on improving its services and establishing a pediatric ward through its partnership with UNICEF. We have invested $10,000 of the funds we received from you in setting up this department. We have used approximately $25,000 of the funds we received from you to install a heating system for the women's ward and the maternity ward. The work is in progress and will be completed within the next 20 days. We have also invested approximately $20,000 in the installation of a solar power system to supply electricity to the maternity ward and the hospital in Al-Nuseirat. This system will provide about 20 percent of the energy needed to operate the women's and maternity clinics at Al-Awda Hospital in Al-Nuseirat.

In 2026, we will work to achieve several goals in the area of primary health care. As mentioned earlier, we will establish six primary health care centers in different areas of the Gaza Strip. We will work hard to establish a field hospital for Al-Awda in the northern Gaza Strip. We will also work with some partners to establish a center for the follow-up care of injured people and the treatment of their wounds, which are considered difficult and complex. This service is not currently available to those who were injured during the aggression against the Gaza Strip.

We will use part of the funds we have received from you to set up about fourteen health clinics in the Al-Awda Medical Complex in the central region, where we currently have a department with fourteen clinics, but the number of patients is very large and we need to double the number of rooms so that we can care for the citizens who come to us every day for treatment. The project will cost approximately $200,000. We will use part of the funds we have received from you for this purpose and work with you and others to complete this project in February.

In addition, we are working to establish a center for diabetes and diabetic foot disease in 2026, as this service does not yet exist in the Gaza Strip. The idea is to create an integrated department that offers comprehensive services for diabetes patients. These services include health education and examinations by endocrinologists and surgeons, cleaning of wounds and ulcers that occur specifically in diabetes patients, and surgical interventions in cases requiring amputation.

This project is very important, and this service is intended to treat diabetes patients and offer them comprehensive services in one place, which is currently not available in the Gaza Strip. The idea is great and requires a lot of effort, but we are determined to implement it within a year in terms of communication and accessibility.

We are working on setting up a radio station called Al-Awda Association. This radio station will also play an educational role for students, as there are no schools in the Gaza Strip, and we will try to use part of the broadcasts for educational purposes for students who do not have access to educational opportunities. In addition to accessing or providing educational services in the health sector, because, as you know, health education is part of the public health system, and educating citizens reduces the heavy burden that can be placed on the health system. In other words, if citizens adhere to the principles of health education, they will not need to go to the hospital, and that is why the radio station will offer health education services.

The third focus of the radio station is to present an optimistic discourse that promotes life in Gaza. As you know, the difficult reality in the Gaza Strip is that the measures taken by the occupying power, as well as the control of social media and social networks, are intended to encourage people to emigrate and flee Gaza as an uninhabitable area. One of the most important goals of the radio station is to strengthen people's resilience and encourage them to remain in the Gaza Strip. We believe that the idea of the radio station is groundbreaking and unique. No one has worked in this field before. Another goal of the radio station is to promote the work of young people. As you know, young people today do not go to university or school and have nothing to do. They are surrounded by despair on all sides. Our activities will target young people and encourage them to produce a series of artistic and theatrical works that address their problems and concerns in an artistic way and are broadcast on the radio. This is a summary of our plans for the year 2026.

Contribution by Dr. Ahmad Mhanna

I rarely talk about the terrible events and experiences in the occupation prisons because they were directed against the humanity of the Palestinian prisoners, not only against their person and their body but against their dignity and humanity, and that was Israel's goal in its policy towards Palestinian prisoners. Of course, there is a whole system for dealing with Palestinian prisoners. There are clear guidelines that have been decided at the political level and are implemented in the various occupation prisons in the occupied territories. I personally was in Negev prison and remained there for 21 days before being transferred to Kent Saud

. The infamous and dreaded first 21 days were the worst, during which I was subjected to physical, psychological, and moral torture and all kinds of oppression. The interrogations lasted many hours, interrupted by physical assaults and ghosting. The term is well known. There is “ghosting,” in which the prisoner is hung by his hands for hours while standing on nails or rough ground.

I mean, I'm saying that one of the methods they used on the prisoners was to tear their hands up while they were handcuffed and hang them for hours, without shoes and on rough ground with nails and sharp stones, which meant that every movement caused injuries to their feet. It was very cold, and they did not give the prisoners enough clothing. It was far too little for an adult, let alone the amount of food they gave the prisoners for three meals a day. They did not give it to small children aged 5 or 6. This caused the prisoners to lose weight, between 20 and 30 kilograms, and some prisoners lost 50 to 60 kilograms. Their bodies naturally became weaker because there was a lack of water, which was only provided regularly once an hour per day. There was also no medical care whatsoever. After seven months under these conditions, their immune systems were naturally weakened, and they were not allowed to change their clothes. For seven months, there was no soap, no shampoo, and no personal hygiene products. This led to the prisoners developing skin diseases, especially scabies. Of course, this disease spread among all prisoners in all prisons. Because of this disease, the prisoners scratched themselves day and night, preventing them from sleeping, which led to open wounds on their bodies and the spread of boils. After that, some patients with chronic problems and diseases suffered heart attacks and had to undergo amputation due to lack of care for their diabetic foot wounds. He had kidney infections that worsened into kidney failure, then infections in pulmonary edema, and we lost the patient. Another patient, a young man in his forties, had previously undergone surgery and developed intestinal obstruction during the procedure. We insisted several times that he needed to be transferred for treatment. Of course, no one listened. After three days, he developed severe swelling that put pressure on his lungs and heart, and he died. One of the prisoners died as a result of complications. He had intestinal obstruction, which means that something was blocking his intestines and preventing them from functioning properly. He had bloating in his abdomen. This bloating lasted for three days and put pressure on his chest and heart. His stomach became very large because he could not pass wind or release air. This man suffered a heart attack and died. This was the second prisoner in the same department where I was.

And, of course, there are dozens more cases in other prisons. We had no way of communicating among the prisoners. There was no communication, especially with the outside world. They experimented on us, meaning that the prison's secret services tried out all kinds of information on us. They spread lies through agents who were prisoners but worked for them, or who were vulnerable or under pressure, or for whatever reason they spread lies to break the morale of the prisoners in the detention centers. For example, “So-and-so was arrested.” Or “The X building was destroyed and Gaza fell.” Everyone went to Rafah... You know that the prisoners don't know anything about their families, so there is constant worry. This went on until they hung up large banners with pictures of the destruction of Gaza City and wrote “New Gaza” on them. They were right in front of our eyes, which means we saw it every morning, every morning, every morning. Because that makes it your reality, your reality, a destroyed city.

The Israeli prison procedures exceeded all expectations. They committed crimes against the Palestinian prisoners and treated us with violence and harshness. They were inhumane and even used dogs to torture the prisoners. They used various means and methods. Some prisoners were raped in other detention centers, such as Ofer. During military investigations, the so-called military interrogations, some prisoners were threatened with their families, wives, and children. Others threatened them by targeting their homes and families. This was to get them to cooperate with them or participate in work, provide services, that is, once they were released from detention.

When I was released, I saw Rafah, the city of Rafah in the south. It was a tragic sight; the city was completely destroyed. Nothing remained of Rafah, a large city, or Khan Yunis. To be honest, I cried. I didn't know where I was going, where we were, where Gaza was. We never thought there would be so much destruction in Gaza. Never. We didn't expect the destruction to be so great. I expected partial destruction, 50 percent destruction in the Gaza Strip. But not 100 percent, because the destruction in Gaza is actually more than 90 percent.

But of course, returning to work in our ranks gave me a dose of optimism and a dose of hope. That is still there. In existing institutions that work for the citizens, and on the ground, we are trying, God willing, to help those in need in these times.

Contribution by Dr. Rafaat Al-Majdalawi to the evaluation of experiences with ICOR

The truth is that we work with a large group of partners, but our honest feelings are that Al-Awda's cooperation with you has a number of dimensions.

The first dimension is the feeling of solidarity. Working with you has given us a humanitarian boost and confidence for the future, knowing that there are people who, although physically far away from us, are very close to us in their feelings, their support, their words, and their activities.

You cannot imagine how much your solidarity and cooperation with us have strengthened us morally. This is not primarily due to the financial contributions we have received from you. As you know, these contributions are unrestricted and unconditional, which allows Al-Awda to use these funds for its vital and basic needs. As you know, some of our partners and donors impose certain conditions on our work, but the unconditional cooperation with you gives Al-Awda the opportunity to use the funds we receive from you flexibly for the vital and basic needs of patients and beneficiaries.