May 29th, 2009 — Gazans are not currently subject to the shelling and bombing characteristic of the war last winter. But they are enduring a continued siege on their land, affecting shelter, basic infrastructure for water, and the banking system, to name a few. At the end of April 2009, UNRWA and the UN Development Program (UNDP) completed their assessments of damage caused during the last offensive on Gaza. Some 3,500 houses were totally destroyed or are beyond repair and many others have yet to be repaired. Israel has not allowed cement and building materials into Gaza since June 2007. Internally displaced people, living on sand dunes in tents provided by international aid agencies, and cooking on kerosene burners and using portable toilets, report a feeling of despair and lack of safety.

March 10th, 2009 — Fifteen of Gaza's 27 hospitals were damaged in the bombing and face serious shortages of basic supplies. Your donations have made it possible for UPA, along with our partner International Relief and Development, to ship a million dollars worth of surgical and trauma care supplies to Gaza.

February 23rd, 2009 — As Gaza struggles to cope with the destruction, more than 1,000 families in hard-hit Jabaliya receive a week's supply of fresh water courtesy of a UPA grant and a volunteer distribution effort led by the Palestinian Center for Youth Work.

February 4th, 2009 — Amidst emergency efforts to restore livelihoods in Gaza, UPA Director Samer Badawi slipped away to Capitol Hill today for a two-hour Congressional Briefing titled, "On the Ground in Gaza," hosted by Representative Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH). The briefing featured Badawi and Andrew Whitley, Director of the Representative Office of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in New York, and filled the Rayburn Building's briefing room with over 100 attendants that included Representative Brian Baird (D-WA), legislative aids, policy experts and the leaders of multiple non-profits and community-based groups.

January 26th, 2009 — Fueled by an unprecedented outflow of public support, UPA and its partner Relief International (RI) have embarked on an initiative to provide direct relief to thousands of Palestinian refugees displaced by the fighting and facing hunger and malnutrition.

January 9th, 2009 — The three-hour "lull" in fighting is anything but, and many besieged residents of Gaza City are choosing to risk hunger rather than venture outside for food, water, and other essentials. UPA is helping by bringing rations to them and their families.

January 8th, 2009 — Thousands of families in Gaza's largest refugee camp, Jabaliya, have been unable to leave their homes for days. As Israeli forces continue to hinder passage of food, water, and medical assistance, UPA-supported volunteers are going door-to-door to make sure families can eat.

January 6th, 2009 — UPA's Samer Badawi appeared live on CNN to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. UPA is trying "to overcome the trauma of the occupation and the repeated military strikes on the innocent civilians of Gaza," said Badawi. According to the United Nations, "[t]here is no safe space in the Gaza Strip -- no safe haven, no bomb shelters -- and the borders are closed, and civilians have no place to flee." Making matters worse, few relief workers can get to the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain helpless in their homes.