The situation in Gaza is dire and deteriorating rapidly. Over the past year, the Israeli government has intensified its military operations, leading to widespread civilian deaths, destruction of infrastructure, and a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Humanitarian aid is largely blocked, leading to famine-like conditions, with over 1.2 million people facing life-threatening hunger. Many families resort to eating grass and leaves. 

Around 90% of Gaza’s population, 1.9 million people, are displaced, often forced to flee multiple times, only to face bombings in supposed “safe zones.” 

 87% of homes, 94% of health facilities, and 85% of schools are damaged or destroyed. Over 50% of hospitals are non-functional, and the remaining ones operate under extreme duress. 

These acts committed by Israel, such as forced displacement, targeting civilians, and using starvation as a weapon, are considered war crimes. Reports from Human Rights Watch and the UN report these actions amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. 

Civilian casualties are unprecedented, with more children killed in Gaza than in all global conflicts of the past four years combined. 

The crisis is spilling into the West Bank and Lebanon (the latter of which has only just had a ceasefire), escalating regional instability.

Urgent action is needed, including an immediate ceasefire, lifting the blockade to allow humanitarian aid, and ending the occupation. The international community’s inaction is exacerbating the crisis. 

Over 44,000 people have been killed, including thousands of children, and more than 105,000 wounded. These numbers likely undercount the true toll, as many remain missing. Around 7% of Gaza’s population has been killed or injured, with most victims being civilians, including many women and children.

Approximately 70% of fatalities are children and women, and 80% of deaths occurred in homes or shelters. Of those killed in residential areas, nearly half were children aged 0–9 years. 

Hundreds of aid workers, health workers, educators, and journalists have been killed. Furthermore, a study published in The Lancet estimated that hunger and disease could push the eventual death toll beyond 186,000. Thousands of survivors face life-altering injuries, and many children have been orphaned. 

 Over 732 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, and 3,000 deaths are reported in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks. 

Following attacks on October 7, 2023, 1,200 Israelis were killed, including 800 civilians, and 5,400 were wounded. Since then, 373 Israeli soldiers and 28 civilians have been killed.

International efforts to bring aid into Gaza have faced severe obstacles, with the amount of aid allowed diminishing drastically over the past year. In October 2024, only 37 trucks per day entered Gaza—less than 10% of pre-war levels, which once averaged 500 trucks daily. The crisis has intensified under a 17-year blockade that restricts goods and people, crippling Gaza’s economy and services. Israel’s “total siege” in October 2023 halted all supplies, further worsening conditions. Although crossings were partially reopened in early 2024, aid volumes peaked briefly in April before declining each month thereafter. 

Challenges persist at Gaza’s five operational crossings, where stringent screenings and arbitrary restrictions often block essential supplies. Aid deemed “dual-use,” like medicine, tents, and even food, is routinely denied entry. Many trucks face rejection or delays due to restrictive hours and bureaucratic hurdles. Even when aid enters Gaza, delivering it remains dangerous due to bombings, damaged roads, and unexploded ordnance. 

Israeli military restrictions also hinder UN humanitarian missions, with only 36% of October 2024 applications approved. Aid is sometimes looted amid widespread lawlessness, exacerbated by the collapse of Gaza’s police force under Israeli attacks. Further complications include severe fuel shortages, disrupted communication, and the absence of cash, making basic services like water distribution nearly impossible. These cumulative barriers have left Gaza’s population in worsening humanitarian crisis, with little relief in sight.  

Gaza is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis as Israel deliberately restricts food supplies, using starvation as a weapon of war in violation of international law.  

Over 83% of food aid is blocked, and daily food distributions dropped by 25% between September and October 2024 due to Israeli-imposed restrictions. This, combined with ongoing bombardment and mass displacement, has created one of the worst hunger crises in the world, pushing Gaza into a man-made famine. 

Around 1.2 million people are now experiencing life-threatening hunger, with children and the elderly already dying from starvation. Many families go entire days without food, while children resort to eating leaves or scavenging for scraps. Doctors are treating malnourished children and pregnant women too weak to stand.  

Over 60,000 children under five need urgent treatment, with 96% of children under two surviving on dangerously inadequate diets. The crisis has reached catastrophic levels, with 345,000 people classified as experiencing famine conditions (Phase 5 of the UN hunger scale), and nearly 2 million in crisis or emergency phases. 

 Israeli actions have decimated Gaza’s ability to produce food. Most cattle and fishing fleets are destroyed, and 68% of farmland has been rendered unusable. Inflation on the few available goods is staggering, with prices for basic items like tomatoes, salt, and sugar soaring by thousands of percent.  

With no income and almost no cooking gas entering Gaza, families are burning waste for fuel, further exacerbating respiratory illnesses. This dire situation leaves Gaza on the brink of famine, with international aid and urgent action desperately needed. 

Gaza is experiencing an unprecedented displacement crisis, with 1.9 million people—90% of the population—forced from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times and are now crammed into overcrowded areas rife with disease and starvation. Shelter conditions are dire, with families squeezed into tents meant for one, or sleeping in schools, bombed buildings, or the open air. Clean water and proper sanitation are scarce, and raw sewage flows near living areas, spreading illnesses, particularly among children.

Population densities in places like Khan Younis and al Mawasi have surged to catastrophic levels, with up to 40,000 people per square kilometer. Families have as little as 1.5 square meters of space per person, far below international humanitarian standards of 3.5 square meters.

As winter approaches, conditions are set to worsen dramatically. Night temperatures are dropping, and many displaced people lack warm clothing or sufficient blankets, having fled their homes in summer. Israeli authorities have also blocked the entry of essential winter supplies, leaving families exposed to the cold in makeshift or nonexistent shelters, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe.

Northern Gaza is facing catastrophic destruction, with a relentless military assault displacing nearly all its residents and trapping tens of thousands in siege-like conditions.

Civilians remaining in the region are cut off from food, medical care, and humanitarian aid, as Israel has blocked nearly all attempts to deliver supplies. Hospitals have been targeted, medical workers detained, and essential services halted, leaving the population without access to critical care.

Amid the bombardment, civilians, including children and aid workers, are being killed. Starvation looms as bakeries and food distribution centres shut down due to lack of supplies.

On November 5, Israel declared northern Gaza devoid of civilians and announced it would not permit displaced residents to return or allow aid into the area, effectively enforcing a policy of forced displacement. This conduct aligns with strategies treating all remaining individuals as combatants, raising severe concerns about violations of international humanitarian law.

Gaza’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, with 94% of health facilities damaged or destroyed amid relentless attacks.

Hospitals, which should be protected under international law, have become targets, resulting in the deaths of over 1,047 health workers and more than 516 documented assaults on facilities and ambulances. Many ambulances have been bombed or targeted by snipers, while hospitals are often besieged, leaving critically ill patients, staff, and civilians trapped without basic necessities.

Over half of Gaza’s hospitals and primary healthcare centers are now non-operational, and the remaining facilities struggle with severe shortages of medicine, fuel, and supplies. Doctors are forced to make life-or-death decisions with inadequate resources, performing surgeries without anesthetics and treating preventable conditions in dire circumstances.

Thousands of patients, including cancer and dialysis patients, urgently need evacuation for medical care, but most are denied due to the ongoing blockade and the closure of crossings like Rafah. The blockade must be lifted to allow access to lifesaving treatment.

The collapse of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, coupled with overcrowding and displacement, has triggered a public health crisis, with 90% of children under five suffering from at least one infectious disease.

Over 60% of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities have been damaged or destroyed, leaving most water unsafe for drinking and causing water production to drop to less than a quarter of pre-crisis levels. Fuel shortages frequently halt desalination plants, depriving families of water for basic needs.

The unsanitary living conditions in overcrowded shelters, with open sewage and rodent infestations, have led to widespread diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea, jaundice, respiratory infections, and the first polio case in 25 years.

Access to hygiene materials is limited, with severe shortages and exorbitant price increases for essential items like soap and shampoo, leaving people unable to maintain basic cleanliness. Women and girls also face significant challenges due to the lack of menstrual hygiene products.

The reappearance of polio in Gaza after 25 years is a tragic and preventable setback, caused by mass displacement, the collapse of health and sanitation systems, rising malnutrition, and blocked access to vaccines.

The disease, which can cause paralysis and spreads through poor sanitation and contaminated water, was confirmed in August 2024 in a 10-month-old baby. This spurred a UN-led immunization campaign, facilitated by brief pauses in fighting, that vaccinated over 550,000 children under 10 by November. 

Despite its success in reaching 94% of the targeted children, up to 13,000 in northern Gaza could not receive a second dose due to the ongoing military assault, leaving them vulnerable. The health crisis persists as clinics remain under attack or unable to operate effectively. 

The impact on women and children in Gaza is catastrophic.

Women face severe challenges: many are malnourished, giving birth in unsafe conditions without medical care, and enduring overcrowded shelters with no privacy or hygiene facilities. Pregnant women are at heightened risk of complications, and there is a rise in gender-based violence and infections due to a critical shortage of hygiene products. Many new mothers are dehydrated and unable to breastfeed.

Children are experiencing unimaginable suffering. Thousands have been killed or injured, with many left disabled. They face starvation, trauma, and a lack of basic necessities like food, water, and medicine. Education is in ruins, with schools destroyed, teachers killed, and most children out of school for nearly a year, robbing them of a future.

The combined effects of violence, displacement, and a collapse in services leave women and children bearing the brunt of this humanitarian crisis.

At least 1 million children, and many adults, are now in need of mental health and psychosocial support.

Even before the current escalation, people in Gaza were suffering a mental health crisis. 17 years of Israeli blockade that has cut Gaza off from the rest of the OPT and the rest of the world, along with frequent escalations in bombing, have taken a terrible toll on people’s mental health.

Even before this year, studies found over 68% of adolescents in Gaza have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a staggering 95% grapple with severe anxiety.

Now an entire generation is living through trauma, loss, and violence that most people cannot even imagine. They have seen their loved ones blown to pieces by bombs, their homes and schools turned into rubble, and feel abandoned by the world. This will have a devastating impact on people’s long term mental health.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is experiencing escalating violence and human rights abuses under Israeli occupation, with conditions worsening significantly since October 7, 2023.

This year has already been the deadliest for Palestinians in nearly two decades, with at least 742 killed and 7,000 injured over the past year, including many children. Israeli airstrikes, previously rare, have intensified, killing 184 Palestinians since October 2023. Movement restrictions, harassment, and assaults at military checkpoints have further isolated Palestinians from essential services and livelihoods.

Armed Israeli settlers have increasingly targeted Palestinian civilians, with over 1,600 attacks documented since October 2023, including violence against farmers during the olive harvest. These attacks, often carried out with impunity and sometimes with military support, have resulted in deaths, injuries, destruction of property, and widespread intimidation.

Home demolitions have also surged, with 1,843 Palestinian structures destroyed since October 2023, displacing around 6,300 people. Combined with the destruction of agricultural facilities and schools, these actions exacerbate the dire situation for Palestinians in the region.

Since the crisis escalated in October 2023, we have spent more than $89 million AUD in aid in Gaza.   

 This includes food, which includes hot meals, vegetable packs, food parcels and food vouchers. We also provided Lipid-based Nutrition Supplement (LNS) for young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women.  

Our psychosocial support includes running games, entertainment, and fun activities for displaced children who have experienced incredibly traumatic events.  

We’ve provided hygiene and dignity kits including things like soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sanitary pads and menstrual hygiene items. We are also providing cleaning service and hygiene supplies to shelters where displaced families are sheltering.  

Other essential aid also includes items such as blankets, mattresses and kitchen kits. We also provide sanitation facilities and water supplies. 

We currently support a healthcare facility that serves nearly 10,000 people. At the very start of the escalation, we also distributed medical supplies to support several hospitals and health facilities across Gaza as they treated wounded civilians.  

We’ve expanded our orphan program, and we now sponsor and transfer money, to help orphan families buy supplies or find shelter at this critical time.  

To deliver aid, the Islamic Relief team based in Gaza works closely with local and international humanitarian partner organisations. As always, local aid workers and community-based organisations are at the forefront of the humanitarian response. 

We have worked in Gaza for over 25 years, since 1997, and we have long-established partnerships with numerous local Palestinian organisations. During this emergency we are working closely with 6 of these local partners. All who work in different areas throughout Gaza and help us carry out our daily distributions and other activities. 

We also work with international organisations. Our largest partnership is with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and we are now their biggest NGO partner in Gaza. Together we cook daily ready-to-eat meals for families who are now living in overcrowded shelters, at risk of malnutrition and disease. Most do not have access to cooking equipment or cooking gas, so providing cooked meals is most effective. For many of these families it is the only meal they get to eat each day. 

Through the WFP partnership we’ve also provided Lipid-based Nutrition Supplement (LNS) for over 30,000 vulnerable people on a monthly basis, including young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women. As well as ready-to-each food parcels.  

The Israeli blockade imposes severe restrictions on the amount of aid allowed to enter Gaza. As needs continue to increase, we are constantly exploring and reassessing ways to get aid in.

Most of the aid that we are distributing is brought into Gaza via commercial suppliers, mostly through the Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) and Erez West (As-Siafa) crossings. We then procure these supplies once they are inside Gaza.

At times over the past year, we have also distributed aid that has entered Gaza via UN trucks – however, in recent months even fewer of these have been allowed to enter.

We have also brought a small amount of aid in ourselves, including trucks from Jordan containing winter clothing and hygiene products such as sanitary pads and nappies (diapers), and trucks from Egypt containing blankets and food packs.

The Israeli blockade also limits supplies such as fuel and there is now a severe shortage across Gaza, which makes long journeys challenging. Our team and local partners generally distribute goods in the areas where they are based, which cuts down on fuel needs, and they obtain whatever supplies are available on a daily basis.

We are managing to deliver a lot of aid, but it is still nowhere near as much as is needed. Nowhere near enough is getting in. Ultimately only a ceasefire and end to Israel’s blockade will ensure that enough aid can get in

Despite the extremely difficult and dangerous situation, the Islamic Relief team in Gaza is working closely with local and international partner organisations to deliver vital aid to people in need.   

Most of our own staff and partners have themselves been displaced multiple times and have lost relatives and loved ones, but they are still working tirelessly.   

We distribute aid every day, responding all over Gaza, as the situation and access evolves. Right now, most of our distributions are in the Middle Area, Khan Younis, Deir al Balah, Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza. The scale and location of our work depends on the security situation and the amount of aid and commercial supplies permitted to enter Gaza.  

Islamic Relief is calling for an end to the ongoing massacre and for international law to be upheld.  

Under international law, parties to conflict have a duty to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to ensure that civilians can access essentials such as food, water, medical services and power. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) that duty is clearly not being met. In fact, it is being completely ignored and violated with impunity. 

There must be urgent action to address the current humanitarian catastrophe. There must be an immediate and permanent ceasefire, to protect civilian lives and enable more aid to reach people in need.  

For many people in Gaza, the aid that is getting in is their only lifeline and the meals we provide are the only food they eat that day. Islamic Relief offices around the world have launched emergency appeals to help us provide lifesaving aid. Those donations are having a huge impact and will help us continue to provide aid in Gaza. We urge anyone who can to please donate to our appeals. 

But humanitarian aid alone is not enough. People in Gaza urgently need political action to stop the massacre. Many Islamic Relief offices are also running campaigns with partners, encouraging the community to take action. Please keep advocating and calling on our world leaders to demand an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel’s siege. 

Yes. We are still able to help families through our orphan sponsorship program, even in the current crisis when support is most needed and less easy to deliver. 

Our long-term orphan sponsorship program provides cash transfers that help provide orphaned children and youth* with food, shelter, education, healthcare and other necessities. Our sponsorship program in Gaza and the West Bank is still active. Having recently expanded it, we now sponsor over 16,000 orphans in Gaza. 

 We are utterly heartbroken that some of the orphans we sponsor have been killed. In June, at least 117 children and young people who have received Islamic Relief sponsorship have been killed since October 2023, as well as at least 72 of their guardians. The youngest orphan child killed was just 5 years old. Many have previously lost their parents and have now lost their remaining guardian. Given the ongoing crisis, we expect this number is likely to increase.  

We were particularly appalled at the killing of Mohammad Bhar, the young man with Down’s syndrome and autism who was mauled to death by an Israeli military dog. He and his mother had been part of our sponsorship program since Mohammad was just two years old. We continue to call for an independent investigation into his death, and for all responsible to be held accountable.  

As the need for orphan sponsorship has massively increased, we welcome new donations for this. Accessing cash is extremely challenging for many families in Gaza, as lots of banks have shut, but we continue to transfer funds to guardians and orphans in Gaza using the payment system of the UN World Food Program. Through this system, families receive an SMS code with which they can withdraw money from supermarkets.  

*Islamic Relief begins sponsoring orphan children under the age of 18, however we continue to sponsor them after 18 if they remain enrolled in education. 

Providing people with cash is often a very effective part of emergency response, as it empowers people to buy what they need and supports local markets. At the start of this escalation in Gaza we distributed food vouchers to families as part of our response, and wherever possible we continue to provide families with cash through some projects – such as our orphan sponsorship program. 

However, the liquidity and banking challenges in Gaza means that we currently prioritise distributing food and other aid rather than cash. We urge international donor governments to support efforts to find solutions to Gaza’s liquidity crisis and scale up cash assistance as soon as possible.

Displaced people in Gaza have no adequate shelter, no warm clothing and bedding. They are particularly at risk during winter, when night temperatures plummet close to freezing. We are planning to distribute warm clothes, blankets, hot meals and other vital aid to help displaced families survive the winter.

Nobody is truly safe in Gaza right now. But we are relieved that so far, no Islamic Relief staff have been injured or killed – although several staff have had family members killed in the bombardment. Islamic Relief’s office in Gaza City was badly damaged by bombing, and bombs have fallen nearby as our staff provided civilians with aid.  

Like most people in Gaza, most of our staff have themselves had to flee their homes and are trying to keep themselves and their families safe at the same time as delivering lifesaving aid. We are doing all we can to support them at this time. However, when there is heavy and indiscriminate bombing in populated neighbourhoods, it is impossible to guarantee anyone’s safety. 

We have worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1997. Last year our work in Gaza helped more than 1 million people. We work mainly with local partner organisations and we currently have 7 staff in Gaza, all of them Palestinians, who coordinate and oversee this work, as well as other staff supporting from the wider region. 

We have worked in Gaza for more than 25 years. So, we have a long history of providing development programs as well as emergency aid. These are now suspended while we focus on our emergency response, but we hope to resume this important work in future.