On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah last year, the people of Israel awoke to a nightmare. At daybreak on that fateful October 7, red alert sirens sounded across much of the nation, sending millions of Israelis rushing to their bomb shelters as waves of rockets rained down from the skies. Soon it was clear this was no ordinary rocket attack. Thousands of Hamas terrorists from Gaza were also infiltrating Israel’s southern border, overrunning nearby towns and farming villages. On that dark day, some 1,200 Israelis were murdered, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza. Families were burned alive in their homes, others were split apart amid the carnage and abductions, and tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated from the southern and northern border areas to safer locations across the country.
In response, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem swiftly mobilised to provide urgent relief aid and support to the grieving and traumatised nation. Thanks to the generous contributions from our Christian donors worldwide, we have worked tirelessly to offer practical assistance to Israeli communities in need over the past year of war and displacement.
Here is an overview of the many projects and efforts we have undertaken during the past 12 months to help meet the many needs created by this immense tragedy in Israel.
ICEJ AID Overview
7 October 2023 to 30 September 2024
FOOD
• Food and water supplies for first responders at the Gaza border.
• Two delivery trucks to distribute food packages to evacuated and disadvantaged families.
• Cookouts for 820 security and first responder teams.
• 15,500 food boxes packaged in Rishon LeTzion for evacuated families.
• 150 families received food support in Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.
EVACUEES
• Offered respite days to 450 evacuees, including congregation, new immigrants from South.
• Gave 440 gift vouchers for families from Kfar Aza and Sderot.
• Housed 18 evacuees in home near Jerusalem, along with food and emergency items.
• Furnished basic needs for evacuated families, including games, mattresses, first aid kits, food.
• Sponsored activities for 1,180 evacuees, some with disabilities.
• Provided therapeutic activities and emotional support, including for residents of Kfar Azza.
• Donated computers for ten evacuee families.
• Supplied 12 school classrooms, plus equipment and books for evacuated children.
• Gave scholarships for evacuated students from Sderot to attend school in Jerusalem.
• Packed 250 bags with toys and distributed to evacuated families in North.
• Funded printing of 4,000 books to help traumatised evacuates with resilience. (Books printed at Be’eri Printing House to help rehabilitate community.)
• Provided tutoring for orphaned children of Kibbutz Be’eri.
• Donated two ‘gymborees’, indoor playgrounds for children of Kibbutz Alumim and Be’eri.
• Contributed furniture making workshop for youth clubhouse of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
• Gave financial help and replaced burned household items for 78 families in Nir Oz and Be’eri.
• Funded parent/child trips and therapeutic activity for evacuees of Nir Yitzchak.
• Renovated ten apartments for elderly evacuees.
• Supplied house-warming gift packages for families of Kibbutz Nir Oz, Be’eri, and Re’im.
EQUIPMENT & PROTECTIVE GEAR
• Provided 140 protective vests and helmets for first responders and security teams.
• Funded equipment and training for two Community Emergency Teams (CET) in North.
• Supplied equipment, clothing for first response units, including Druze and lone soldiers.
• Donated eight ATVs with fire-fighting equipment to emergency teams in North and South.
• Sponsoring a large van for emergency response team in Eshkol region.
• Supplied 400+ special communication devices with chargers, accessories to multiple security teams.
• Gave 46 red alert light and sound systems for kindergartens in Hof Ashkelon.
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
• Stocked up emergency food supplies for resident of our Haifa Home for Holocaust survivors.
• Bought mattresses, toiletries, etc. for elderly survivors.
• Purchased a backup generator for the Haifa Home.
• Donated a special ambulance for the Haifa Home.
• Set up two new protected rooms in the Haifa Home.
• Supplied food to Holocaust survivors in the North.
• Supported Holocaust survivors in the South with transport and trauma care sessions.
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
• Provided protective gear, medical supplies to 30 Search & Rescue team members.
• Gave paramedic kits, defibrillators to 10 medical first-response teams along northern border. • Donated a military ambulance for Kibbutz Be’eri (with KKL-JNF in Czech Republic).
• Donated 4 life-support ambulances (including one for Haifa Home and one for disabled).
• Contributed two medi-cycles to Magen David Adom.
• Supplied 25 paramedic kits, 8 smaller medical kits & 21 defibrillators for security officers along northern and southern borders.
• Funded intensive-care bed and stretcher for Soroka Hospital.
TRAUMA RESPONSE
• Sponsored leadership/resilience training to 210 managers overseeing 2,600+ medical staff.
• Provided trauma therapy and support to evacuated teens and young adults at risk.
• Funded horseback riding therapy sessions and equipment for hundreds of children, adults.
• Established a PTSD recovery home for IDF veterans in Migdal HaEmek.
• Sponsored renovations to set up a trauma treatment clinic in a Jerusalem medical center.
• Supported development of virtual reality visors to treat trauma in 1000s of youths, others.
• Backed social-emotional support program for 40 families in Ramle and Lod.
• Offered trauma care to 10 groups of first responders at specialized therapy farm in Negev.
• Sponsored trauma treatments for 340 war victims to increase their mental well-being.
• Funded empowerment camp for 40 evacuees.
• Provided trauma treatment trip for reservists to help them integrate back into society.
• Renovated 20 homes for disabled soldiers and victims of terror.
BOMB SHELTERS
• Delivered 28 new cubicle bomb shelters (25 on northern border, three on Gaza border).
• Donated 5 new large bomb shelters for the Sha’ar HaNegev Resilience Center, Ayelet HaShahar, and Haifa Home.
• Renovated and repaired 169 underground community shelters in northern and central Israel.
OTHER RELIEF AID
• Helped 85 vulnerable families in South with practical aid, mentoring for small businesses.
• Supported programs to rebuild trust between Arabs and Jews, help Arabs find employment.
• Sponsored seminars at six schools to build bridges between Arabs and Jews.
• Renovated home of widow of Sderot police officer slain on October 7.
• Provided support to the 52 bereaved and injured Druze families in Majdal Shams.
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
• Visited wounded soldiers and injured civilians with gift bags.
• Packed 15,500 food boxes for evacuee families in need.
• Visited and sat shiva with evacuated families from Kfar Aza.
• Organised pro-Israel rallies and advocacy efforts through ICEJ branch offices worldwide.
• ICEJ Homecare comforted and gave aid baskets to dozens of impacted elderly and disabled.
• Joined volunteers in harvesting in fields and orchards for farmers in the South.
• Volunteered to drive pregnant Israeli women to the hospital to give birth.
• Hosted seven solidarity and hands-on missions to Israel in months after outbreak of war.
REBUILDING
• Sponsoring new trauma treatment center for youth in Kfar Aza.
National Post