A land, air and sea blockade has been in place in Gaza since 2007, which severely restricts movement in and out of Gaza.

Aid enters Gaza through the land border crossings of Rafah and Kerem Shalom, when they are open. Before trucks can enter, they must go through several checkpoints and layers of inspections, which can take weeks. Humanitarian aid has also been airdropped into Gaza, but the most efficient and effective way to deliver aid is through land crossings.

Six months into the conflict, about 21,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza, which averages to about 123 trucks a day. That is far fewer than the estimated 500 trucks a day needed to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza.

CRS has been working in Gaza since the start of hostilities. Starting with cash support to families, CRS has expanded to other forms of assistance and is currently working in Gaza to deliver food, shelter and hygiene supplies. We have operations in three southern governorates - Rafah in the south, Khan Younis and in Deir al Balah. CRS procures relief items regionally from places like Egypt and Jordan, which are loaded onto CRS trucks and go through either the Rafah crossing point on the Egypt side of the Kerem Shalom crossing point on the Israel side. This involves many checkpoints and layers of inspections that can take weeks. Once in Gaza, the items are delivered to CRS central hubs and then to distribution points, where they are distributed to families. To ensure CRS is reaching those most in need, the CRS team and partner organizations go to locations where displaced families are living. They go tent-to-tent and after confirming people's eligibility, provide them with paper coupons that allow them to go to desginated sites to recieve CRS supplies. Upon arrival at the site, their information is verified, recorded and the aid is then provided.

Recognizing the huge needs across Gaza, defining eligibility helps us make sure our assistance is getting to the family that needs that type of assistance at that time - and that assistance is distributed as fairly as possible. For example, we want to provide a tent to a family without anywhere to live instead of a family currently living in an apartment. Or, we want to make sure that the family who recieves a food parcel from us did not recieve the same parcel from a different NGO earlier in the week. We monitor and track our supplies through to the last mile and establish communication channels so people can reach out to us with any questions or complaint. When we conduct post distribution monitoring, we are able to get a clear picture of any concerns or issues, and course correct as needed.

Yes. There are approximately 50,000 Palestinian Christians who live in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and about 1,300 Christians living in Gaza. Gaza has one Catholic church, which is the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.