ICEJ Aid One Year Review

ICEJ War Relief Aid in Israel: One Year Overview

By: ICEJ Aid Team 

On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, 2023, 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 (ICEJ) swiftly mobilized to provide urgent relief aid and support to the grieving and traumatized 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  

October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024  

FOOD  

  • Provided food and water for first responders at the Gaza border • Supplied 2 delivery trucks to distribute food packages to evacuated and disadvantaged families 
  • Hosted cookouts for 820 security and first-responder teams 
  • Packaged 15,500 food boxes in Rishon LeTzion for evacuated families 
  • Provided 150 families with food support in Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim 

EVACUEES  

  • Offered respite days to 450 evacuees, including new immigrants from South 
  • Gave 440 gift vouchers for families from Kfar Aza and Sderot 
  • Housed 18 evacuees in homes near Jerusalem, along with food and emergency items 
  • Furnished basic needs for evacuated families, including games, mattresses, first aid kits, and food 
  • Sponsored activities for 1,180 evacuees, some with disabilities 
  • Provided therapeutic activities and emotional support for residents of Kfar Aza 
  • Donated computers for 10 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 them to evacuated families in the North 
  • Funded printing of 4,000 books to help traumatized evacuees with resilience (books printed at Be’eri Printing House to help rehabilitate the community) 
  • Provided tutoring for orphaned children of Kibbutz Be’eri 
  • Donated two “gymborees” (indoor playgrounds) for children of Kibbutz Alumim and Be’eri 
  • Contributed to a furniture-making workshop at the 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 activities for evacuees of Nir Yitzchak 
  • Renovated 10 apartments for elderly evacuees 
  • Supplied housewarming gift packages for Kibbutz Nir Oz, Be’eri, and Re’im families  

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 the North 
  • Supplied equipment and clothing for first response units, including Druze and lone soldiers 
  • Donated 8 ATVs with fire-fighting equipment to emergency teams in the North and South 
  • Sponsoring a large van for emergency response team in the Eshkol region 
  • Supplied 400+ special communication devices with chargers and accessories to multiple security teams 
  • Gave 46 red alert light and sound systems for kindergartens in Hof Ashkelon 

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS  

  • Stocked emergency food supplies for residents 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 and medical supplies to 30 search-and-rescue team members 
  • Gave paramedic kits and defibrillators to 10 medical first-response teams along the northern border 
  • Donated a military ambulance for Kibbutz Be’eri (with KKL–JNF in Czech Republic) 
  • Donated four life-support ambulances (including one for the Haifa Home and one for disabled people) 
  • Contributed 2 medi-cycles to Magen David Adom 
  • Supplied 25 paramedic kits, 8 smaller medical kits, and 21 defibrillators for security officers along Israel’s northern and southern borders 
  • Funded an intensive-care bed and stretcher for Soroka Hospital 

TRAUMA RESPONSE  

  • Sponsored leadership/resilience training for 210 managers overseeing 2,600+ medical staff 
  • Provided trauma therapy and support to evacuated teens and young adults at risk 
  • Donated two therapy horses to Kibbutz Urim 
  • 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 the development of virtual reality visors to treat trauma in thousands of youths and others 
  • Backed social-emotional support program for 40 families in Ramle and Lod 
  • Offered trauma care to 10 groups of first responders at a 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 a 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 the northern border, three on the Gaza border) 
  • Donated 5 new large bomb shelters for the Sha’ar HaNegev Resilience Center, Ayelet HaShahar, and the Haifa Home 
  • Renovated and repaired 169 underground community shelters in northern and central Israel 

OTHER RELIEF AID 

  • Helped 85 vulnerable families in the South with practical aid and mentoring for small businesses 
  • Supported programs to rebuild trust between Arabs and Jews and help Arabs find employment 
  • Sponsored seminars at six schools to build bridges between Arabs and Jews 
  • Renovated the home of a Sderot widow whose husband was a police officer slain on October 7 
  • Provided support to the 52 bereaved and injured Druze families in Majdal Sham 

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 (mourned) with evacuated families from Kfar Aza 
  • Organized pro-Israel rallies and advocacy efforts through ICEJ branch offices worldwide 
  • Comforted and gave aid baskets to dozens of impacted elderly and disabled people 
  • Joined volunteers in harvesting 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 the outbreak of the war 

REBUILDING 

  • Sponsoring a new trauma treatment center for youth in Kfar Aza  
  • Providing furnishings for rebuilt homes in kibbutz Nir Oz   


For more on this topic:

Watch “The Six Month War in Gaza ” by David Parsons.