CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

MEDIA RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

25 July 2014

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand to provide aid for Gaza humanitarian response

Caritas Jerusalem is providing medical assistance, food and other necessities to the thousands of vulnerable people affected by the escalating conflict in Gaza, and Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is contributing an initial $20,000 to support the humanitarian response.

More than 775 people have already been killed, including 160 children killed during Israeli attacks in Gaza, and more than 100,000 Palestinians are displaced.

The United Nations estimates that seventy per cent of Palestinians killed have been innocent civilians and the number of civilians on both sides that have been killed and injured is growing every day.

During the special prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine, convened in the Vatican on June 8, 2014, Pope Francis said: “Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity. All of this takes courage, it takes strength and tenacity”.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand joins the worldwide Caritas family in urging both parties to have the courage to break out of the cycle of violence and calls for peace to ensure a better future for children.

The pledge of $20,000 from Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is possible because of the public’s generosity through the Caritas Gifts, Gifts of Peace programme (www.caritasgifts.org.nz), and much-needed donations are now being accepted to implement the humanitarian response as soon as possible.

Donations website: www.caritasgifts.org.nz

© Scoop Media