Gaza: The work continues Ocotber 2025
Following the ceasefire, Gaza begins to rebuild. Amos Trust continues providing aid, medical care, trauma support and education while demanding lasting justice for Palestine.
DSPR (aka NECC) was launched in 1952 to serve the 198,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza following the formation of the state of Israel (Nakba) — today, that number is over 1.9 million.
DSPR has developed three areas of specialism: early years and maternal health, training and equipping young people with employment skills and providing psychosocial trauma support to children, parents and young people in their training centres.
DSPR
(Also known as NECC)
Amos has partnered with DSPR’s youth training and psychosocial programmes since 2011, as youth unemployment was so high due to the Israeli Blockade of Gaza that had begun in 2007 and because young people saw such little hope for the future.
Before 7th October 2023, DSPR had four technical and vocational training centres in carpentry, metalwork, electrical engineering, solar power and refrigeration, alongside courses in advanced dressmaking, secretarial studies, office management and Gaza’s first women-only graphic design course. English language teaching, specialist mentoring into employment and psychological support was provided to all students.
Following the 2008/9 war on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, DSPR started providing psychosocial trauma support to children, parents and young people for the post-traumatic stress that was evident among so much of the population.
Ongoing trauma
Initially set up as a temporary response, they soon realised that the living conditions in Gaza and frequent attacks meant that they had to provide this as a continuous specialised service to address ongoing trauma. They set up play therapy programmes for children and groups, including 1:1 support programmes for parents (and families).
At the start of the war in October 2023, DSPR had to close all their health, psychosocial support and training centres as they were in areas targeted by the Israeli assault. They opened a health and trauma support unit for women and children in Rafah that treated 28,000 people and provided psychosocial support to 15,000 children, their families and bereaved mothers.
Following the Israeli assault on Rafah, DSPR opened a mobile health clinic, providing treatment to 260 people a day. Later, they converted a wedding hall in central Gaza into a new medical centre, which also provides a base for their trauma support work with women and children.
In Gaza City, staff dug out equipment from their bombed-out health centres and used it to create temporary medical centres from which they also offer trauma support to children.
Take a look through our range of resources, blog posts, downloads and products to find out more about our Palestine Justice work.
Our second book of poetry, prose, creative writing and reflection is now available. ‘Seeds Of Hope: More Thoughts and Reflections from Amos Trust’ has contributions from Zena Kazeme, Arundhati Roy, Ben Okri, Cornel West, Angela Davis, Robert Cohen, Maya Angelou and our partner Abdelfattah Abusrour. “What a wonderful collection of writing — rich, deep, broad, funny, touching, angry, and, most importantly, encouraging.” Brian Eno — producer, musician, writer and artist.
Like everyone, we welcomed the long-overdue ceasefire on 9th October — a moment of fragile relief after a year of unimaginable loss. Families are finally returning to what’s left of their homes, searching for the remains of loved ones buried beneath rubble. The long, painful work of rebuilding lives can, at last, begin. But this is not the end. Not yet.
This year marks Amos Trust’s 40th anniversary, and this month, Chris Rose reflects on 40 years of doing hope and invites you to celebrate with us. We also share news of our partners in Palestine, our new Big Hope Fund and introduce our ‘Amos at 40’ brochure.
Amos Trust’s On Location exhibition introduces leading visual artists from Gaza and explores the motivations, frustrations and realities of being artists under siege. This 62-page, full-colour coffee table catalogue of the collection is printed on 200-gram silk art board and is the perfect gift for the art lover in your life.
Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was bombed on 17th October 2023 — up to 500 people were killed. Despite the extreme adversity, the Al Ahli Hospital staff and volunteers are committed to serving the community through out-patient and in-patient care.
Following the 2014 Gaza War and decades of oppression and resistance, the storytelling platform We Are Not Numbers (WANN) was founded to give a voice to the youth of Gaza. In a rallying cry to onlookers around the world, WANN’s new book offers unparalleled insight into the real lives of the people of Gaza and imagines where we might go from here.
Amos Trust
7 Bell Yard, London
WC2A 2JR
UK
Telephone:
+44 (0) 203 725 3493
Email:
[email protected]
Registered Charity No.
1164234
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