Blood Donations Amidst Engineered Famine
"I’m hungry, but someone out there is hungrier than me. My blood might help them live.”
In Gaza, where war has emptied shelves and hunger stalks homes, more than one hundred people gave blood to help others survive. Our team lined up in the heat, not because they were promised anything, but because they knew someone needed it more than they did.
The campaign began when the Gaza Blood Bank, short on supplies and staff, asked Sa7ten to help. They reached out to us as they had seen the team at work, organizing food, helping at hospitals, and staying close to the people. They trusted us to act fast and to do it right.
At first, the plan seemed out of reach. Asking people who have not had a full meal in weeks to give blood was risky. However the people and our team saw the urgency and agreed. They met with doctors and nurses, found an ambulance, and prepared for what might happen if people fainted or fell ill. They chose a safe site, Al-Karama School, and printed 2,000 invitation cards. They handed them out across the camps and waited.
“We expected maybe a handful to show up,” said the Field Coordinator. “But we printed as many cards as we could, and hoped for the best.”
The next day, over 100 people showed up. Sa7ten made sure they were cared for. They hired a local baker, found sugar, flour, and cocoa, each hard to get and expensive under siege, and baked trays of pastries. Not for show, but to keep donors from fainting. They tried to get fresh juice, but the shipment never came. Still, every person was fed.
Some did faint. A few people fell, one team member passed out while giving blood, but no one was left alone. Water was brought. A shoulder was offered. A volunteer drove one man back to his tent to make sure he got home safely. This isn’t aid work; it is neighbors caring for each other.
Some of our team members who have lost their homes or their families stepped up. They stayed from morning to night, checking on people and moving supplies.
“We work, we give, and we keep going. No one else is coming,” said our Field Coordinator.
The Blood Bank was shocked. They called the next day asking for another event. Before the war, they said, they could never get this many donors. Now, even people who hadn’t eaten in days were offering blood.
This is Gaza, not a place of quiet victims, but of people who act. Not with slogans, but with bread, blood, and work. These are not gestures of hope. They are facts of survival.
Under these circumstances, our team refuses salaries. They are paid modestly for the work they do- in more and more extreme conditions. The group covers fuel, printing, transport, and ingredients using what limited funds are available. Every action depends on careful use of small resources. But they continue, because if they don’t act, no one will.
“People are eating herbs, canned food, or nothing. We asked them to give blood,” said the Field Coordinator. “And they did. This isn’t resilience. It’s a necessary sacrifice.”
To international agencies and governments: stop waiting. Open the crossings. Let in medicine. Let in food. Let out the wounded. These demands are not political. They are basic.
“If we had waited for conditions to improve, we would have done nothing,” said the Field Coordinator. “Instead, we moved. We bought what we could. We cooked with what little was left. We planned with care, and the people responded.”
If you believe in life, then support those who are saving it.
The people of Gaza are not asking for help. They are giving it. What they need now is room to keep going. No one can give from empty hands forever.