Catholic Relief Services calls for ‘immediate cessation of violence’ in Gaza to allow aid

But CRS is “supporting four churches in Gaza … which are serving as temporary shelter locations for thousands of people,” O’Keefe said.

“And they are running out of food, running out of water, and are surrounded in an area that is under constant bombardment,” he said.

“I can only assume that people in the hospital compound are experiencing exactly the same sort of thing that the Christian community and their Muslim brothers and sisters who are sheltering with them in these churches are experiencing,” he said. “It’s really a terrible situation.”

O’Keefe said CRS has several dozen workers in Gaza “who, although their families are displaced, they’re continuing to serve their community.”

“It’s really an amazing testament to their courage and commitment to their community,” he said. “They are providing electronic vouchers, kind of like a debit card, that allow people to get those last supplies from those stores that still have a little bit left.”

“We’ve helped over 100,000 people, or close to 100,000 people, since the beginning of the war,” he said. “The U.N. is trying to assist. But they’re all running out of fuel, they’re all running out of electricity, and without fuel, as you would imagine, it’s impossible to deliver supplies, it’s impossible even for the Internet to work without electricity. And so things are really beginning to shut down. We’re very concerned.”