Unpacking Israeli History IsraAid After October 7: An Unprecedented Humanitarian Mission in Israel and Gaza (Part 2)
Jan 27, 2026
A look at rapid humanitarian responses inside Israel after October 7, from makeshift schools to bomb shelters. The story follows quiet, tricky efforts to get life-saving aid into Gaza while navigating security checks and bureaucracy. The episode highlights covert facilitation, scaling logistics like warehouses and convoys, and the moral complexities of saving lives amid war.
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Civil Society's Unique Reach
- IsraAID's global experience let it operate where governments couldn't, working in countries with no diplomatic ties to Israel.
- That civil-society agility later enabled the group to respond inside Israel and, unexpectedly, in Gaza.
Rapid Home-Front Response
- On October 8th IsraAID launched one of its largest emergency responses inside Israel, rushing to evacuation sites and hotels with shelter, schools, and trauma care.
- The team set up makeshift schools and child-friendly spaces to restore routines for displaced children amid grief and missing classmates.
From Psychosocial Care To Construction
- IsraAID organized healing retreats, trained volunteers in psychological first aid, and built bomb shelters in neglected Bedouin communities.
- They even built a school for Kibbutz Be'eri in less than a day and ran it for a year.