SINGAPORE - The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza has penned a letter of thanks to Singaporeans who donated to a project that saw solar panels outfitted at the facility, restoring power to the only paediatric hospital in the north of the besieged enclave.
The money was raised through charitable organisation Love Aid Singapore, founded by Singaporean Gilbert Goh, who is working with the International Relief Organisation to raise funds for several projects in the Gaza Strip.
These include the operation of kitchens in the Jabalia and Rafah refugee camps, as well as the financial support of about 400 orphans.
In a letter dated March 26 that was seen by The Straits Times, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya said he was thankful and appreciative of the generous donations towards the solar panel project.
“It has a significant impact on restoring the hospital and ensuring the return of services to Palestinians,” he wrote in Arabic, with the letter bearing the letterhead of the Palestinian health ministry, as well as its official stamp.
The situation at the hospital has been grim following power outages, with World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying in a March 4 post on X that it was overwhelmed with patients. A team from WHO had visited the hospital in early March.
Dr Tedros said: “The lack of electricity poses a serious threat to patient care, especially in critical areas like the intensive care unit and the neonatal unit.”
He added that 10 children had died there due to lack of food.
On Dec 13, 2023, Reuters said WHO was concerned about a reported raid at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which was “only minimally functional” even before the Israel-Hamas war due to shortages of water, fuel and supplies.
An AFP report on March 19 said the solar panels were the only things that kept incubators running in the hospital, with patients “dying on the operation table simply because life-saving machinery is switched off”.
Describing the panels as a project that will save thousands of lives, Mr Goh, 62, told ST that he was heartened by the donations from Singaporeans to make the project a reality.
“As a small country, we must have this self-belief that we can achieve much in terms of humanitarian outreach, especially in the Middle East. We can do something extraordinary together if we put our heart and soul in it,” he said.
Besides Mr Goh’s efforts, the Republic has also seen several charities and the Government do their part to deliver aid.
Since March 8, Singapore charity Humanity Matters has sent nearly $250,000 in relief to the Palestinian enclave, including airdropping about 25 tonnes of food on March 27 and 28. Another 11 tonnes are being delivered over land through the Kerem Shalom crossing on the border straddling the Gaza Strip, Israel and Egypt.
Local charity Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation, meanwhile, partnered the United Nations Children’s Fund to organise a fund-raising appeal between March 20 and 26, while Mercy Relief distributed about 20,000 food packages to 800 families in Gaza.
The Republic of Singapore Air Force also recently completed its first airdrop to deliver emergency supplies to people in Gaza on March 20, marking Singapore’s third tranche of aid.
The first, consisting of supplies and funds raised, was delivered to the Egyptian Red Crescent in early November 2023, while the second tranche, which included medicine, sanitation items and water filters, was delivered to the Egyptian Red Crescent later that same month.
