One of the late Pope Francis’ popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health unit for the children of Gaza.
It was one of the pontiff’s final requests that the vehicle be used to help those suffering in the war-torn Gaza Strip, humanitarian aid network Caritas said.
Before his death on April 21, Pope Francis made the popemobile—which he used during a visit to Bethlehem in 2014—available to Caritas Jerusalem.
Highlights
- Pope Francis’ popemobile is being converted into a mobile health unit to aid children in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
- The vehicle will provide frontline care with rapid tests, medicines, oxygen, vaccines, and more for displaced Gaza children.
- Doctors will run the mobile clinic to reach children who currently have no access to medical support.
The new mobile clinic will help children in the Gaza Strip when aid is allowed to enter
Image credits: Caritas
Work on the mobile clinic is currently underway.
Nearly 1 million children have been displaced as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows each day. Many are facing hunger, infections, and other preventable conditions that put their lives at risk, Caritas said.
The mobile health unit aims to provide frontline care to those children and will be run by a team of doctors.
It will be kitted out with rapid tests, suture kits, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines, and a small fridge for storing medicine.
Image credits: Getty Images
“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care—children who are injured and malnourished,” Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said.
“This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed.”
Israel has been blocking all humanitarian aid and commercial supplies from entering Gaza since the start of March.
On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse due to the two-month blockade.
ICRC common kitchens—which often provide the only meal people receive each day—will only be able to operate for a few more weeks if aid does not enter Gaza, the humanitarian organization says.
Image credits: Caritas
The Red Cross Field Hospital in Gaza is also running dangerously low on food and medical supplies, with some essential medicine and consumables already exhausted.
“Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance,” ICRC Deputy Director of Operations Pascal Hundt said.
“This situation must not—and cannot—be allowed to escalate further.”
Nearly 1 million children have been displaced in Gaza
Image credits: ICRC
Pope Francis repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, and on Easter Sunday, the day before his death, he once again called for peace.
The pontiff had a close relationship with the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, the Holy Family Catholic Church, and reportedly called parishioners nightly to check in on their wellbeing.
The newly equipped popemobile will be ready to operate when humanitarian aid is finally allowed to enter Gaza.
“It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza,” Brune said.