Holy Land
Help those in need access vital supplies.
Our international network is responding to the needs of local people and saving lives across the region, including in Lebanon amid growing tensions.
With the need for urgent humanitarian assistance growing, your support is more critical than ever.
90% of housing in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed leaving more than 1.9 million displaced people in Gaza alone. More than 2 million people lack access to adequate food supplies - the highest per-capita rate worldwide.
In this humanitarian crisis, the stories streaming from Gaza show suffering beyond comprehension. A shortage of food, ordinary hygiene items, and the most rudimentary subsistence items worsen living circumstances. Increased spread of disease, protection of the injured, and mental health issues strain an already overburdened health system.
Our humanitarian response
Our network is actively working in Gaza, Jerusalem, West Bank and Lebanon.
Responding to the needs of local people, local Caritas staff have established a temporary medical clinic in Gaza and are providing much-needed physical and mental health support.
The international Caritas network has already been able to provide multi-purpose cash assistance to over 127,000 people, emergency shelter for over 1,500 people and bedding supplies to more than 17,000 people. Working with the World Food Programme, our partner is also distributing food parcels to over 22,000 families.
In Lebanon, a million people are feared to have been displaced by the escalating conflict and over 1,000 people have lost their lives.
Caritas is active in Lebanon, providing vital aid: cash assistance, food, hygiene kits, medical care, legal aid, and safe shelter to those effected.
This is the lifesaving work your support enables - please give generously today.
One year on - a message from Caritas Jerusalem:
“The human suffering in Gaza continues. There is no clean water, solid waste is everywhere, destruction is on-going, and diseases are spreading all over … ”
Your support will…
Provide mental health and psychological support
Provide access to safe shelter, food and water
Increase access to health care, repairing Medical Centres
Provide cash assistance to families for household items
Take action with us - speak up for justice, mercy and peace.
Since October the 7th , Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has been advocating to protect the lives of the vulnerable. In October, we released a statement calling for increased humanitarian aid and an end to attacks on civilians. In December we sent letters to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs calling on them to work towards an immediate ceasefire, and signed the #CeasefireNOW campaign.
In January we joined with our fellow aid agencies in support of a ceasefire. In March we released a joint statement with other members of our Caritas network, calling on our countries’ Prime Ministers to do more to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza and work towards a ceasefire. We signed the Grant the Visas open letter calling for humanitarian visas for Gazans with connections to Aotearoa.
Early in April Caritas joined other New Zealand-based NGOs in the Council for International Development to push the New Zealand Government to urge all parties involved in the Holy Land conflict to uphold international humanitarian law. In our joint statement Caritas CE Mena Antonio highlights the great need for action, saying – “Hundreds of thousands of civilians are directly in the line of fire, risking death, serious injury, and lasting trauma. This is abhorrent and unacceptable.”
In May, Caritas hosted a talk by Bethlehem University Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, who spoke about the impacts of the conflict to Wellington church leaders. We continue to advocate alongside New Zealand faith communities for peace and justice. In July, we responded to the tragic strike on the Holy Family School by releasing a joint statement with the Catholic Education Office, calling for “an end to attacks on civilians in the Holy Land, for all parties to cease fire and for an unhindered humanitarian corridor”.
Bethlehem University - teaching peace
Our longstanding partners at Bethlehem University provide a critical role in ‘teaching peace’ to the next generation of leaders.
Bethlehem University is a Catholic co-educational institution in the Lasallian tradition whose mission is to provide quality higher education to young people and to serve them in its role as a center for the advancement, sharing and use of knowledge.
Founded by the De la Salle Brothers in 1973, Bethlehem University was the first registered university established in the Occupied West Bank territory of Palestine and is the only Catholic university in the Holy Land.
The University promotes excellence in academics and develops students as committed leaders for society, fostering shared values, moral principles, and dedication to the common good.
Above: Taranaki-raised Brother Peter Bray, former Vice-Chancellor of Bethlehem University.
Despite the on-going unrest, Bethlehem University continues to foster academic excellence with it’s foundations based in Catholic Social Teaching. Our long-standing relationship with the University endures, supporting ‘teaching peace’ in the Holy Land.
For more information on the University and its funding needs contact advancement@bethlehem.edu
New Zealander Br Peter Bray, who moved to the Holy Land in 2008, was the Vice-Chancellor of Bethlehem University until early 2024. In a recent statement Br Peter spoke of the impact of the conflict in Gaza.
“The present war in Gaza is disrupting life here at Bethlehem University … while the physical damage of war has not touched us here yet, the reality of it has.”
Since 7 October, 200 Palestinians killed, 2500+ arrested in West Bank. Students, employees of Bethlehem University detained; some for social media activity. Palestinians arrested without reasons disclosed.
Brother Peter asks for prayers of support and peace, adding "please keep us in your prayers as we navigate our way into this unpredictable future."
The following prayer is associated with the "Peace Lamp for the Holy Land" project. Peace Lamps are produced in the village of Taybeh, 30 kilometres from Jerusalem, and have been distributed around the world, to unite people of all faiths around the world in prayer for the peace of the Holy Land.
Please note - we do not currently have Peace Lamps for sale.
