“Every time it rains, the tent floods and it takes days for the beds to dry out. Today I’m scheduled for a C-section, then I'll return to the same suffering. It will be extremely difficult after the birth, from the physical pain to staying in an ice-cold tent.”

Suhad shared with us moments before giving birth to her daughter at a UNFPA-supported hospital. Suhad’s baby has been fighting for her life since the moment she was born.

Today, Suhad’s daughter is 6 months old, and already in her short life, she’s been forced to move multiple times due to evacuation orders. She has faced sickness due to limited clean water for drinking and bathing and is at risk of developmental delays due to hunger.

“What has my baby done to be born into a situation like this?” Suhad asked with tears in her eyes.

Right now, 155,000 women in Gaza and the West Bank are pregnant and in desperate need of our support to survive childbirth. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the conflict, will you make a gift toward our $100,000 goal and provide maternal health services in Gaza and wherever care is needed most?

Hospitals — the few still functioning — are overcrowded with deliveries and the injured. They are also short on staff, essential medicines, and equipment.

One doctor shared that the circumstances are so dire that, “We have to put four or five babies in one incubator... Most of them don’t survive.”

Thanks to your ongoing support, UNFPA has assisted in more than half of all childbirths in Gaza amidst these horrid conditions. In addition, contributions from supporters like you have:

• Recruited and trained 55 new community midwives
• Distributed 50,000 UNFPA Dignity Kits and Mama Kits
• Operated 4 mobile health clinics to reach women and girls with care wherever they are

But even with all of this support, the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is dire. Right now, 28,000 pregnant women are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger.

Any support you provide will make a difference in the lives of women and girls in Gaza. Before the one-year anniversary, will you give what you can to deliver lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care to those surviving the world’s most dire emergencies?

We condemn the violence in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel, and echo the UN Secretary-General’s call for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas. The suffering must end and peace must prevail.

Thank you for being there for women and girls.

— USA for UNFPA