Despite daunting odds, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its on-the-ground partners have managed to deliver aid to 1.7 million people in Gaza since 2023, according to new data.

On July 29, CRS – the official relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – updated its diocesan coordinators regarding efforts to provide essential assistance to the population of Gaza, where CRS has maintained a continuous presence since 1984.

Amid “severe access limitations and aid blockades,” Baltimore-based CRS and its partners have still managed to supply basic needs as well as psychosocial support, wrote CRS diocesan engagement adviser Jesús J. Huerta in his email, with the agency “mobilizing supplies from Egypt and Jordan” following “the recent humanitarian pause.”

Huerta said in his email that “decades of work with communities, the local Catholic Church and partners in Gaza and the region have enabled our (CRS’) rapid, flexible and impactful response.”

At the same, he noted that “our staff and partners continue to operate under grave risk.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC – a measurement initiative by a global consortium of food security organizations and agencies, including CRS – has warned that Gaza is at risk of famine, with both serious and critical levels of acute malnutrition throughout the densely populated region. “Increasingly stringent blockades” by Israel have “dramatically worsened” conditions, said the IPC.

In a fact sheet attached to Huerta’s email, CRS said that its current program priorities are safe, dignified shelter and housing; water, sanitation and hygiene; psychosocial support; and assisting Church partners in Gaza, “who enjoy community trust and have strong grassroots connections.”

Noting that its Gaza Church partners “serve as temporary shelters for approximately 400 people,” CRS said it has supplied “hygiene items, cash assistance, clothing, tarps and other humanitarian goods as available.”

Among the aid CRS has so far provided since 2023:

• Shelter assistance (including bedding, living supplies, tarps, tents and shelter repair kits) to 341,790 people.

• Clean water, latrines, hygiene and sanitation kits and supplies to 500,268 people.

• Psychosocial support to 10,399 children and teens, and to 1,333 caregivers.

Linked to the fact sheet was a new report produced by CRS and two global humanitarian organizations, Save the Children and Mercy Corps, titled “Markets Under Fire,” which assessed market conditions in Gaza and their impact on food security and humanitarian aid.

Led by Save the Children, the July 2025 report marks the second phase in an analysis first undertaken by the three agencies – which are “three of the main cash actors in Gaza,” the report notes – in August and September of 2024.

The scope of challenges has not deterred CRS or its partners, the agency said in its fact sheet.

“In a time of fear and flight, CRS works with its partners to uphold human dignity, even amid bombardment and continuous displacement,” said the agency.