Palestine Emergency Appeal

Gaza: The Stuggle to Survive

UP TO DATE as of 26/5/2025

In Gaza, an uncertain situation remains. A ceasefire came into effect on January 19, 2025, after 15 months of terror. Yet, on March 18, 2025, the airstrikes returned.

 

Gaza remains a crisis in need of dire attention. Over 53,000 Palestinians killed. Tens of thousands more injured. Over a million displaced.

Our teams are on the ground delivering aid

Zakatable Giving Options

Eid Gifts

$25 each, provides
clothes, shoes, and toys

Food Packs

$99, feeds a family
for a month
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More Ways to Help Gaza

Help provide medical services and more to Gazan families.

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Support from Gaza to Aus

Help families recently arrived from Gaza settle in Australia.

Hot Meals

$10 each
$50 gives 5

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500+ nightmare days of suffering

The scale of loss and destruction in Gaza is indescribable. For over 500 days, Israel carried out atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza.

 

They used starvation and denial of humanitarian aid as weapons of war, and sought to destroy every part of Gaza’s infrastructure and society.

 

The temporary ceasefire offers some hope, but Gaza has been razed to the ground, and its people continue to suffer greatly.

Timeline of events

October 2023 – December 2023

Attacks intensify throughout Gaza, targeting homes, hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure. So-called ‘evacuation orders’ force civilians further south.

Islamic Relief scales up the emergency response. Working with local partners, aid is distributed Khan Younis, Rafah and Deir al-Balah, and later in northern Gaza.

21 November 2023

A four-day truce is agreed. Since the start of the bombardment of Gaza, more than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children.

Another estimated 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced and forced by the Israeli army to flee to the southern areas of Gaza.

The truce is extended to seven days, but, in December, Israel resumes its attacks on Gaza.

December 2023 – April 2024

December 2023
– April 2024

The Israeli blockade continues to severely restrict aid entering Gaza. Starvation becomes a weapon of war, diseases spread across the territory, with famine imminent.

Islamic Relief begins a new partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver millions daily hot meals and nutritional support.

7 May 2024

Israel closes the Rafah border with Egypt and the Erez crossing in the north, cutting off the supply route for many International non-governmental organisations (INGOs).

Islamic Relief’s work becomes even more vital as we distribute supplies via the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israeli border, together with established partners and United Nations agencies, including the WFP.

19 July 2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers a historic ruling. It concludes that Israel should end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory, desist from creating new settlements, and evacuate those already established.

In both Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israel continues to violate international law on a daily basis.

2 August 2024

Islamic Relief successfully delivers Qurban donations to families in need through the Kerem Shalom crossing, despite delays caused by the Israeli blockade.

15 August 2024

Gaza health officials report that the death toll surpasses a horrific 40,000 people in Gaza after more than 10 months of attacks. Civilians have been killed and wounded at a faster rate than any conflict this century.

September 2024

Islamic Relief continues to deliver humanitarian aid across Gaza.

We are reaching vulnerable people every day with hot meals, vegetable packs, survival items, psychosocial support sessions, clean water, healthcare services and hygiene supplies such as sanitary pads and soap.

November 2024

Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map. Under the guise of ‘evacuation’, Israeli forces order the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City.

This is not an evacuation—this is forced displacement under gunfire. Since 1 October, no food has been allowed into the area, and civilians are being starved and bombed in their homes and their tents.

December 2024

Islamic Relief successfully delivers Qurban donations to families in need through the Kerem Shalom crossing, despite delays caused by the Israeli blockade.

Gaza health officials report that the death toll surpasses a horrific 40,000 people in Gaza after more than 10 months of attacks. Civilians have been killed and wounded at a faster rate than any conflict this century.

15 January 2025

After 15 months of relentless bombardment and intolerable suffering inflicted upon the Palestinian people, a ceasefire in Gaza is announced.

The ceasefire consists of three stages, the first of which is due to last for 42 days and will see the release of hostages, the return of Palestinian prisoners, and the resumption of aid lorries to be allowed into Gaza.

The Gaza Strip has been left in ruins, while at least 48,200 people in Gaza have been killed – including at least 15,000 children – and many more left with life-changing injuries. Some estimates place the death toll significantly higher and many people are still missing under rubble.

15-19 January 2025

More than 100 Palestinians in Gaza are killed by Israeli strikes in the four-day interval between the announcement of the ceasefire and its start.

19 January 2025

The first phase of the ceasefire begins. Israel begins to gradually withdraw its forces to the edge of Gaza and the first humanitarian aid trucks are allowed into Gaza.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement outlines the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners over the subsequent six weeks.

1 February 2025

The first phase of the ceasefire begins. Israel begins to gradually withdraw its forces to the edge of Gaza and the first humanitarian aid trucks are allowed into Gaza.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement outlines the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners over the subsequent six weeks.

The Situation in Gaza Remains Urgent

With the ceasefire broken, the death toll continues to climb. Over 53,900 dead, with a heartbreaking 17,841 children and 12,298 women among the casualties.

 

So far, we’ve distributed:

Food & Water Relief

Medical Supplies

Checking Medical Aid Before Distribution - 23rd Oct

Water Distribution - 10th Nov

Children's Psychosocial Support - 11th Nov

Winterisation Distribution - 10th Mar

Food Pack Distribution - 12th Mar

Portable Toilet Distribution - 25th Apr

Clothes Distribution - 26th Jun

Learning Initiative - 1st Sep

RTE Meals Distribution - 26th Nov

Cleaning Rubble - 21st Jan

Health Rehabilitation - 22nd Jan

Food Distribution - 18th Feb

The Toll of the Crisis on Gaza

A Summary of the Events

  • Violation of the ceasefire (actioned Sunday, 19 January 2025) occurred on Sunday, 2 March, when Israeli authorities cut off all lifesaving supplies – food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas – into the Gaza Strip.
  • The ceasefire then unilaterally ended on the early morning of Tuesday, 18 March, when Israel announced it resumed military operations in Gaza, after suddenly launching a series of air strikes across the Gaza Strip. 
  • With no more ceasefire, the death toll rises further. The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza is 53,977, including 17,841 children and 12,298 women. 
  • In Gaza, 1,010 Palestinian families have been completely wiped out, while 2,620 families are left with only one surviving member, and 4,126 families have no more than two surviving members.
  • Rescue efforts are ongoing as many victims remain trapped under the rubble, with 179 of them being from Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip (Gaza Government Media Office)
  • At least 122,966 people have been injured. Furthermore, more than 11,200 people are missing, with 70% of them being children and women.
  • Among the dead are 220 journalists, over 1,400 healthcare workers, and 99 civil defence workers. Additionally, over 100 scholars, intellectuals, and university professors have been killed, along with more than 9,000 students and over 500 school teachers. (Government Media Office).
  • Gaza is in ruins, with over 87% of homes, 85% of schools, and 65% of roads now damaged or destroyed.
  • Over 94% of health facilities are also damaged or destroyed. Chronically ill patients, estimated to number about 350,000 people, across Gaza continue to face critical shortages of essential medications and treatments.
  • 80% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed during Israel’s war on Gaza. (Oxfam)
  • Over 586,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated for poliovirus across Gaza, reaching 99% of the target population.
  • Approximately 1.9 million people (90% of the population) are displaced. 
  • Gaza’s entire population is at imminent risk of famine, with all 2.1 million people experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.
  • Approximately 1,000 aid trucks daily are required to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s population, significantly exceeding the roughly 300 trucks that Israel reported allowing since the blockade’s partial lifting. (Al Jazeera)
  • Civilians in the West Bank also face deadly attacks and human rights violations. 

Crisis in Gaza - 7th Nov

Impact of attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip

From 7 October 2023 until 30 July 2024

*Most of those who have been killed and injured in attacks on health care were persons internally displaced and taking shelter. The attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital on 17 October resulted in 471 fatalities and 342 injuries, according to reports of the Ministry of Health.
Source: World Health Organisation

The lasting destruction - 9th Nov

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Last Updated: 21/5/2025

Israel has turned Gaza into hell on earth. Islamic Relief staff and partners on the ground say the situation is now the worst they have ever seen there.


Relentless and indiscriminate Israeli bombing is killing civilians every day, burning families to death in their tents, maiming young children, and tearing through hospitals and school shelters. People have been wounded by bombing in their neighbourhoods, then killed by bombs striking the hospitals and shelters where they seek refuge and treatment. Nowhere is safe.

 

Since 2 March, Israel has completely sealed off Gaza and prevented any humanitarian aid or commercial supplies from entering.


Gaza is now in the grip of starvation as food runs out. Famine conditions are spreading fast, with young children starving to death and families scavenging through rubbish on the streets to try to find a few scraps to eat. Doctors report horrific cases of children too emaciated and malnourished to stand up, and most people are going entire days without eating. Parents are going without and giving all their food to their young children, but it’s still not enough to keep them healthy.

 

Meat, fruit, vegetables, eggs, and dairy products are now almost impossible to find. The price of items such as wheat flour has risen by 3000% since the closure, at a time when few people have jobs or access to cash. Bakeries have shut down due to the lack of flour and fuel. Even when people do have food, there is an extreme shortage of cooking gas. Most people now rely on unhealthy canned goods, as those are all they can find and afford.

 

More than 19 months of Israeli attacks have destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself, with most agricultural land, greenhouses, and fishing boats destroyed and most cattle killed. This has left all civilians in Gaza reliant on humanitarian aid that is now banned.

 

Israeli military orders have yet again forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes, with areas such as Rafah now completely emptied of Palestinians. Families are being herded into ever-shrinking areas where there is no clean water, no functioning sanitation and no safety. Multiple families share tents and communal shelters, and there are growing risks of deadly diseases spreading in the desperately overcrowded conditions.


People suffering from injuries, malnutrition, or disease are unable to access decent healthcare and treatment, as most health facilities have been forced to shut down or are operating at greatly reduced capacity. Many hospitals have been repeatedly attacked, and the Israeli siege means they cannot access medicine, medical supplies or fuel to keep generators going. Wounded civilians and patients with cancer or kidney disease suffer in agony as medics try to keep working in almost medieval conditions without drugs and electricity.

 

Over the past 19 months, Israel’s attacks and restrictions have turned Gaza into the world’s most dangerous and difficult place to deliver aid. Now, Israel and the US have announced new plans to dismantle the current humanitarian system in Gaza. These plans would contravene core humanitarian principles, entrench the Israeli occupation and weaponise aid as a tool of forced displacement.

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 120,000 wounded, according to official reports. This means between 7-8% of Gaza’s population is now dead or wounded.


More than 16,000 children have been killed, including thousands of young babies and infants. A UN investigation found that close to 70% of fatalities are children and women, the vast majority of them killed in their homes and shelters. Of the tens of thousands of people killed in residential buildings, almost half (44%) were children, with most of them young children aged between 0-9 years.


The death toll continues to rise daily as more people are killed and wounded, and the eventual death toll from disease and starvation could be far higher. A May 2025 study found that deaths only from violence are more likely to be between 77,000 and 109,000, while a July 2024 study published in The Lancet estimated that the final death toll could exceed 186,000 people. Another Lancet study in February 2025 found that life expectancy in Gaza has fallen from 75.5 years in October 2023 to just 40.5 years by September 2024.


This death toll should be a source of eternal global shame. They are not just numbers. They include babies, children, mothers, fathers, doctors, farmers, shopkeepers, students, teachers, journalists, aid workers, artists, entrepreneurs, grandparents and much more. Gaza’s entire society has been targeted.

 

At least 418 aid workers, 1400 health workers (some also counted under aid workers), 663 educational staff and 212 journalists are among the dead. Many of the injured have lost limbs or suffered other injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Thousands of children have been orphaned.


Casualties are also still rising in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 900 Palestinians since October 2023, including dozens in the first weeks of 2025. Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 2023 have also killed more than 4,200 people, including at least 241 health workers, and wounded more than 17,000.


In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed in the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, including around 800 civilians and at least 33 children. More than 5,400 people were wounded. Since then, 412 Israeli soldiers have been killed while deployed in Gaza.


These figures are all published by the United Nations, based on reports by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Israeli government.

On 2 March, Israel shut all crossings into Gaza and prevented all humanitarian and commercial supplies from entering. As of late May, there has been a partial lifting of the blockage. However, only a few aid trucks have been allowed in. This is nowhere near enough to meet the immense needs on the ground.

 

Much more food, medicine and essential supplies are on trucks and ready to enter, but are blocked by the Israeli military just a few miles away from starving children and critically ill patients.

 

Our teams inside Gaza are working tirelessly, using up the last of the resources we have. They are urgently awaiting the arrival of new aid.

 

To ensure that we are always ready to respond, Islamic Relief is collecting funds for cash grants, food, water, medical supplies, shelter, and other vital essentials. Every donation helps us stay prepared to deliver aid the moment access is granted.

The ceasefire that came into effect on 19 January was not perfect, but it led to a significant improvement in the humanitarian situation and the safety of civilians, and the largest numbers of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees were released.


For many people, it was a rare moment of hope. There was a big increase in the amount of aid allowed to enter Gaza, which enabled humanitarian agencies to scale up assistance and reduce levels of malnutrition and disease. People were able to return to their homes – if they were still inhabitable – and reunite with relatives they had not seen for more than a year.


Even during the ceasefire, dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, and Israel prevented many essential aid items from entering. For example, there was a big increase in food entering, but there were still severe restrictions on shelter items and equipment to clear rubble and unexploded ordnance, repair roads, or start rebuilding homes.

 

However, in March, Israeli actions shattered the ceasefire before it could enter its second phase. On 2 March, Israel closed all the crossings and placed Gaza under total siege, preventing all supplies from entering. On 19 March, Israel resumed intensive bombing, killing hundreds of people in a single day. Since then, there has been daily bombing and forced displacement.


It is vital that there is a return to the ceasefire.

Over the past 19 months, Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war, deliberately depriving Palestinian civilians of food in violation of international law.

As well as blocking aid, Israeli military action has destroyed Gaza’s capacity to produce its own food. 95% of Gaza’s cattle have died, and 68% of agricultural land has been destroyed. Around 70% of Gaza’s fishing fleet is destroyed, and fisherfolk are routinely shot at if they try to go to sea. People’s coping mechanisms are exhausted.

Together with the ongoing bombardment and displacement, this created one of the world’s worst hunger crises and pushed the territory towards a man-made famine. Children and elderly people have starved to death, and more are starving right now.

 

Declaring famine is a very complex and politicised issue, and we know from other experiences around the world that formal famine declarations usually only come too late, after many people have already died, or not at all. For example, during the 2011 Somalia famine, most of the 260,000 fatalities had already died from hunger and disease before famine was officially declared by the IPC.


Regardless of whether or when famine is officially declared or not, we know that Palestinians in Gaza, particularly very young children, are starving to death right now. And we know that many more are likely to die unless there is urgent action. Stopping famine is not only about providing food. There also has to be action to prevent disease and improve healthcare.

The scale of destruction is like nothing we have seen before. Israel’s relentless attacks have turned Gaza into rubble, wiping out entire neighbourhoods and destroying all sectors of society.


According to UN reports, 69% of all structures in Gaza are either damaged or destroyed, including 94% of health facilities, 92% of homes, 89% of water and sanitation services, 88% of schools and 81% of main roads. Places of worship are similarly affected, with 79% of mosques and almost all churches now damaged or completely flattened.


The economy and people’s livelihoods are also destroyed, which will leave people dependent on aid for a long time to come. Around 80% of commercial facilities, such as shops and small businesses, are damaged or destroyed, and many businesses and factories have been forced to close, leading to a steep decline in Gaza’s economic output. Farmers face enormous challenges as 82% of agricultural cropland is now damaged, as well as 68% of agricultural wells and 72% of greenhouses. Cattle owners have few animals left as 95% of cattle, 57% of sheep and 63% of goats have died. Gaza’s fishing industry is in ruins, with 72% of fishing boats destroyed. Unemployment has rocketed to around 85%.


People’s futures are also badly damaged. Almost everyone is mourning the death of loved ones, and many people have been left with life-changing injuries, including loss of limbs. Almost everyone has gone through traumatic experiences, and many are left with long-term mental health impacts that will affect them for a long time to come.

The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is at a boiling point as violence and oppression against Palestinians there increase. Palestinians face daily human rights violations that affect every aspect of life.


Even before October 2023, that year was already the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since the end of the second Intifada in 2005. Since 7 October 2023, Israeli attacks have intensified even further and killed more than 930 Palestinians, including around 200 children, and wounded more than 8,500 – mostly from live military fire and also frequent airstrikes, which were rarely seen in the West Bank before October 2023. In the same period, 46 Israelis have been killed, including soldiers.


These attacks show no sign of slowing down – in the first four months of 2025, at least 118 Palestinians have been killed, including 23 children. One of them was a 2-year-old girl shot in the head while she ate dinner with her family in her village.


In January, as the ceasefire was beginning in Gaza, Israel launched a major military offensive in the northern West Bank, starting in the city of Jenin and then spreading to other areas such as Tulkarem and Tubas. This ongoing offensive, which the Israeli military refers to as Operation Iron Wall, has forcibly displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians from their homes, the largest and fastest displacement in the West Bank for decades. It has destroyed entire neighbourhoods, with homes, roads, and hospitals bombed into rubble and previously bustling communities now emptied of people.


The Israeli military has imposed increasing restrictions on Palestinian movement across the West Bank, closing roads, detaining civilians for hours at a time, and installing new iron gates to control movement in and out of villages. This prevents people from reaching relatives, markets, farms, schools, health facilities, businesses, and places of worship. Palestinian civilians often face harassment, humiliation, detention, and assault when trying to pass Israeli military checkpoints, and medical staff and humanitarian workers are frequently obstructed, preventing them from reaching wounded and vulnerable civilians. Israeli troops have particularly increased restrictions in villages that are home to Palestinian prisoners who were released during the Gaza ceasefire.

 

Armed Israeli settlers have also stepped up violent attacks and intimidation of Palestinian villagers. OCHA has recorded an average of around 4 settler attacks a day since October 2023. These attacks are carried out with complete impunity and in many cases actively supported and accompanied by Israeli troops. Settler attacks have killed and injured Palestinian civilians, damaged homes, stolen agricultural equipment, burnt farmland, and chopped down thousands of olive trees on which families depend their livelihoods and which have belonged to Palestinian families for generations.


We are also seeing an increase in the demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures, such as agricultural facilities or schools, in Area C of the West Bank. Between 2009 and 2022, Israel demolished an average of 654 Palestinian structures every year, citing a lack of building permits, which in practice are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. In 2023, at least 1,129 such demolitions were recorded, the highest annual total since the UN started tracking the data almost 20 years ago. In 2024, this rose even higher to 1,768 demolitions. In the first 4 months of 2025, at least 580 structures have been demolished. Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced as a result.

Even before October 2023, Gaza’s health system faced daily challenges to keep functioning, with frequent shortages of fuel and medical supplies due to the Israeli blockade.


Now, after 18 months of repeated targeted Israeli attacks, 94% of all health facilities in Gaza are either damaged or destroyed. At least 1400 health workers have been killed and many more wounded. The World Health Organisation has documented hundreds of attacks on healthcare, including bombing and shelling hospitals and clinics, striking ambulances as they carried wounded civilians, and shooting paramedics as they tried to reach injured people. Hospitals have frequently been besieged by Israeli military, with staff, critically ill patients, young children, and pregnant women trapped inside without fuel, food, or water. The Israeli siege has prevented vital drugs, medical equipment, and fuel from entering, forcing doctors to carry out surgeries in medieval conditions.


International law demands that hospitals and medical staff are protected and are never used for military purposes. It can never be morally justifiable to attack hospitals that are full of casualties and frightened civilians.


Palestinian medical staff are doing everything they can to keep health services going. But, as of May 2025, around 40% of hospitals, more than 52% of primary health centres, and 67% of UNRWA-run health centres are completely shut down. Most of the rest are only partially functional, and they face a daily struggle to stay open due to critical shortages of medicine, fuel and basic supplies such as insulin and paracetamol.


Many patients simply cannot access the care they need. Between 10,500 – 12,500 patients require medical evacuation for urgent treatment outside Gaza.

Over the past 18 months, children in Gaza have been trapped in a nightmare. They have been bombed, starved and forcibly displaced. They’ve seen their friends and relatives killed, and their homes and schools bombed to rubble. More children have been killed in Gaza than in the last 4 years of all global wars combined. As well as the thousands killed, tens of thousands more have been injured, many with life-changing injuries such as loss of limbs. Thousands more have been orphaned.


They have suffered trauma that most people cannot even imagine, which will have a devastating impact on children’s long-term mental health.


More than 650,000 school-age girls and boys have now been out of formal schooling for almost 2 years, and many of these children also missed out on at least a year of school during the COVID-19 lockdown as well.


The education sector has been devastated. 88% of Gaza’s schools (499 out of 564) are damaged or destroyed and will need either full reconstruction or significant repairs, and another 2,308 educational facilities ranging from kindergartens to universities are now rubble. At least 663 educational staff have been killed, and more than 2,700 teachers injured.


NGOs, including Islamic Relief, have been running informal learning classes for displaced children during the crisis, but this is no substitute for returning to school. The lost education will affect the rest of their lives.

Even before October 2023, the UN warned that most water in Gaza was unfit for human consumption. Regular fuel shortages due to the Israeli blockade often caused water pumps and sewage networks to shut down.


Now there has been unprecedented destruction, with 89% of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities damaged, including water pumps, sewage pumps, waste collection vehicles and sewage lines.


90% of households now don’t have enough water, and 65% of people receive less than 6 litres of water per day for drinking, washing, cleaning and cooking – below the minimum emergency standard.


Together with the collapse in sanitation, this has led to widespread outbreaks of preventable diseases, including skin infections. Last year recorded Gaza’s first polio case in more than 25 years. A major outbreak was averted thanks to a mass vaccination campaign. But as the crisis worsens again, a further outbreak remains a real fear.

There are many challenges facing women and girls. Pregnant women struggle to access even basic healthcare and maternity services, clean water or sufficient food, and many have been forced to give birth amid the rubble or under bombing. Midwives have reported a rise in premature births due to the extreme levels of stress. There are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, and every day, about 180 women give birth in unimaginable conditions.


Most women are living in desperately overcrowded shelters and tents without clean water or sanitation. In some shelters hundreds of men, women and children are sharing a single toilet or shower, and women have to queue for hours at a time. The complete lack of privacy puts women at even greater risk of harassment and assault, and NGO assessments show a rise in sexual or gender-based violence against women and girls. There has also been an extreme shortage of sanitary products on local markets.

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.

There is a major liquidity crisis in Gaza and most people are suffering from the scarcity of cash. Many banks and ATMs had to shut down over the last 19 months and financial systems are in disarray. With formal banking disrupted, many people rely on informal money transfer systems, but these can be less reliable and more expensive with financial agents charging up to 30% in fees. When people do have cash, the scarcity of goods means that prices are rising rapidly and it is increasingly difficult for people to afford essentials.

Over the past 18 months, Israel’s assault and blockade have turned Gaza into the world’s most difficult and dangerous place to deliver aid. Despite the huge challenges, the Islamic Relief team in Gaza has worked tirelessly with local and international partner organisations to deliver lifesaving aid to more than 600,000 people in need. Even when they themselves have lost loved ones, been displaced from their homes multiple times, and struggled to feed their own families.


Since October 2023, we have spent more than £51 million ($68 million) on aid in Gaza. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors around the world, we have been able to help hundreds of thousands of people. We have worked across all five governorates of Gaza (North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah) to provide aid:

 

Providing food and nutritional support to hundreds of thousands of people

  • We’ve cooked more than 70 million hot meals, including things like lentil soup, beans, rice, chicken, humus, falafel, aubergine (eggplant), meat and potatoes. For many families these have been a vital lifeline and their only meal of the day.
  • We’ve distributed 282,327 vegetable packs including tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, lemons, onions, peppers, garlic, aubergines (eggplant), cabbages and various fruits – and more than 28,000 dry food parcels containing staples like pasta, rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil, and cans of beans, meat and fish.
  • We’ve provided nutritional supplements to over 35,000 pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and young children. These Lipid-based Nutrition Supplements (LNS) provide concentrated doses of energy, protein, micronutrients and essential fatty acids, and are designed to address malnutrition before it becomes life-threatening.
  • We’ve provided nearly 8,000 food vouchers so that families can buy food from local shops.
  • Our Qurbani distributions provided meat to 24,000 households.

 

Supporting children with psychosocial support and education

  • We’ve run fun and creative activities for over 100,000 displaced children. These activities are designed to help children cope with the stress and trauma of displacement by offering a rare moment of normality, comfort, safety, and stability through methods such as play therapy, creative expression (art, music, dancing, storytelling), and establishing routines. Safe spaces are created to allow children to interact with peers and engage in structured play.
  • With children out of school for almost 2 years, we have supported informal education initiatives, including ‘numbers and letters’ classes to teach basic literacy and numeracy skills, mostly for young children in grades 1-6.

 

Supporting healthcare

  • We have worked with health facilities to support 900 pregnant women with nutritious food and maternal care, including regular check-ups, blood tests, weight measurement, ultrasounds, heartbeat monitoring and deliveries (both regular and C-section)
  • We have supplied hospitals and clinics with more than 2.2 million medical items, including surgical equipment, bandages, and medicine.
  • We’ve supported a temporary medical point serving around 13,000 people a day by providing it with essential medicine and supplies.
  • Medical supplies that we equipped hospitals with before October 2023, such as incubators for newborn babies, have continued to be used throughout the crisis.

 

Sponsorship for orphaned children

  • We have more than doubled our existing orphan sponsorship program due to the huge needs. We now sponsor and transfer money to the families of 20,482 orphaned children in Gaza, which helps them buy supplies or find shelter.

 

Improving Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)

  • With water supplies extremely limited and infrastructure badly damaged, we have run water trucks providing water to hundreds of thousands of people.
  • We have installed toilets and other sanitation facilities in 67 shelters in the Middle Area and Khan Younis, benefiting around 70,000 people.
  • We have provided 68,786 families with hygiene and dignity kits that include things like soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, shaving cream, diapers/nappies, towels, sanitary pads and sanitary products for women and girls.
  • We have provided cleaning services and hygiene supplies to 85 shelters where displaced families are sheltering.

 

Distributing other essential aid

  • We’ve distributed items such as blankets, mattresses, and kitchen kits to 69,678 displaced families.
  • We provided 6,768 displaced families with winter clothes and blankets
  • During Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, we provided clothes and other gifts to 3,895 children.

Since 2 March, Israel has prevented all new aid and commercial supplies from entering Gaza.


Following this total closure, Islamic Relief staff and partners worked tirelessly to keep distributing daily food and other aid using existing supplies that were previously brought into Gaza during the ceasefire.


However, our food stocks are now completely depleted. Our partners, such as the UN World Food Programme, have also run out of food stocks. As a result we are not currently able to distribute food or nutritional supplements to people who desperately need them.

However, we continue other lifesaving activities every day, such as cleaning dozens of communal shelters for displaced families to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. We also work with health facilities to provide maternal care to hundreds of pregnant women who have to give birth under bombing and siege. We also continue to support more than 20,000 orphaned children and their guardians with cash payments to help them survive.


Humanitarian aid continues to save lives despite the huge challenges.


We are ready and able to resume distributing food as soon as Israel allows supplies to enter.

Most of the aid that we have distributed throughout the crisis has been brought into Gaza via commercial suppliers. We then procure these supplies once they are inside Gaza. We also distribute some aid that enters Gaza via UN trucks.


Over the past 19 months, 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.


At the moment, we have some trucks containing thousands of food parcels that were supposed to enter Gaza from Egypt at the start of March, but were blocked by Israel’s closure of all crossings and the collapse of the ceasefire. These remain ready to enter as soon as the crossings reopen.

We plan to do the same for Qurban this year as last year. The current plan is for the meat to be slaughtered, packaged and frozen in Egypt, and then transported into Gaza whenever it is possible. Due to the current siege we do not know when this will be possible.

To deliver aid, the Islamic Relief team in Gaza works closely with local and international humanitarian partners. Our biggest partnership during this emergency has been with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Together, we have cooked and distributed over 55 million* hot meals for displaced families in overcrowded shelters; provided monthly supplies of Lipid-based Nutrition Supplement (LNS) for over 35,000 vulnerable young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women; and distributed twice-monthly food parcels for 27,000 families.

 

In recent weeks, as food supplies have run low, we have worked with WFP to provide thousands of families with fortified high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil and date bars.


However, due to the Israeli siege, WFP’s food stocks have now run out. We are ready to resume distributing food parcels together as soon as Israel reopens the crossings and allows new supplies to enter.


(*Islamic Relief has also been cooking hot meals through other projects, so the cumulative total of meals cooked given in question 16 is higher).

Our long-term orphan sponsorship program (OSP) provides cash transfers that help orphaned children and youth* get food, shelter, education, healthcare and other necessities.


In the face of the unprecedented need this year, we have more than doubled our orphan program – before the crisis, we sponsored 8,750 orphans, and we now support 20,482 orphans in Gaza.


We are utterly heartbroken that dozens of the orphans we sponsor have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023 – the youngest of them just 5 years old. Dozens of guardians involved in the OSP have also been killed – many children have previously lost their parents and have now lost their remaining guardian.

 

We were particularly appalled at the killing of Mohammad Bhar, a 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 2 years old. We continue to call for an independent investigation into his death, and for all responsible to be held accountable.


Transferring money has been a challenge throughout the crisis, due to the massive liquidity shortage in Gaza and the collapse of the banking system. We have been using the payment system of the UN World Food Programme, through which families receive a code via SMS or an app on their phones. They can use this code to withdraw money from functioning supermarkets whenever they are able to. We know that at least 85% of families in the OSP have managed to redeem the cash this way.


The families we support through the OSP now continue to use this money to buy whatever supplies they can find on the local market.

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 we have provided cash to families through our Orphan Sponsorship Programme. However, the shortage of supplies in Gaza means that prices are rapidly rising and are increasingly unaffordable for many families.

The past 19 months have brought the deadliest violence against humanitarian workers that the world has seen in many years, with at least 418 aid workers killed, as well as hundreds more health workers.


We are relieved that no Islamic Relief staff have been killed – although several staff have had close family members killed and wounded in the bombardment, including husbands, wives, and children. All of our staff have been forced to flee their homes. They have been trying to keep themselves and their families safe at the same time as delivering lifesaving aid.

 

Islamic Relief’s office in Gaza City was badly damaged by airstrikes early in the escalation. Bombs have fallen nearby as our staff provide civilians with aid, and there have been deadly attacks on shelters where we have delivered aid.

We have worked in Gaza for more than 25 years. In 2023 our work in Gaza helped more than 1 million people.


Our team in Gaza are all local Palestinian staff, from the communities they are serving. As always, local aid workers and community-based organisations are at the forefront of the humanitarian response, and our team works closely with our established and trusted local and international partner organisations to deliver aid. During this emergency, we have been working with 6 local partners as well as international partners such as WFP.


We currently have 11 staff in Gaza who coordinate and oversee this work, as well as other staff supporting from the wider region.

Yes, in addition to our partnerships with agencies such as WFP, we actively coordinate with a range of other UN agencies and other international and national NGOs in Gaza. Good coordination with other organisations is vital to avoid duplication of work and maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the humanitarian response.


Islamic Relief is part of the UN cluster system, which is a global coordination mechanism that organises humanitarian actors into 11 core sectors such as health, logistics, shelter, food security and protection. Each cluster is coordinated by a different lead agency, and the members share information, coordinate activities and avoid duplication. In Gaza, Islamic Relief is currently an active member of numerous clusters, including food security, education, and protection. We are also a member of the interagency Cash Working Group, and the focal point in Gaza’s Middle Area governorates for the Food Security Emergency Preparedness Working Group.

We have a long history of providing development programs in Gaza as well as emergency aid. These were suspended while we focus on our emergency response, but we hope to resume this important work in future, whenever it is possible. For example:

  • In the face of soaring youth unemployment, our youth-centred community work helped young people enter the world of work, earn a reliable living, and raise their living standards. Our Islamic microfinance grants enabled young entrepreneurs to start up microbusinesses, supported by training, coaching and mentoring. Focused on enabling young people to achieve their potential, we developed apprenticeship and internship opportunities and boosted access to high-quality technical and vocational education and training.
  • Seeing education as essential to building a brighter future, we improved the learning environments in kindergartens and primary schools; trained teachers; ran child counselling services; helped children with disabilities to access schools; and improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools. We also ran educational clubs that used practical and entertaining teaching methods to help children find solutions to community issues.

Islamic Relief was among the first aid agencies to call for a ceasefire. Throughout the crisis, we have been urging world leaders and international governments to apply pressure and demand a ceasefire, an end to the Israeli blockade, and respect for international law.


We continue to call on international governments and other global actors to:

  • Pressure Israel to end its total siege and reopen the crossings to allow humanitarian aid and commercial supplies into Gaza, in sufficient quantity to match the enormity of the crisis. All crossings must be fully reopened.
  • Publicly reject the new proposals to dismantle the current humanitarian system and militarise humanitarian aid. Governments must insist that humanitarian aid is not weaponised and must refrain from funding any plan that violates humanitarian principles or international law, including those that place aid under military control.
  • Demand an immediate ceasefire to protect civilian life and ensure humanitarian assistance.
  • Defend and protect Palestinians’ right to stay on their land. International governments must ensure that Palestinians are not forced to leave Gaza, in what would amount to ethnic cleansing of the population. We urge them to issue statements to this effect, recognising that any Palestinians who do leave Gaza must be allowed to return.
  • Take a holistic approach to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. For many years, Israeli policy has been to separate Gaza from the rest of the OPT – politically, economically and culturally. Gaza must not be treated in isolation from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, especially given the worsening situation there as well.
  • Strongly and publicly condemn Israeli actions in the West Bank, including the use of disproportionate, unnecessary and indiscriminate force, and demand an immediate halt to military operations.
  • Outline clear plans to prevent genocide, in line with obligations under the Genocide Convention, and ensure the ICJ provisional measures to prevent genocide are implemented.
  • Insist on access to Gaza for politicians and independent journalists, in order to fully document and bear witness to the atrocities and human suffering, and to consult with Palestinian voices and actors on the ground. There is no justification for Israel, as the occupying power, to continue to bar access.
  • Protect civil society and humanitarian actors from disinformation and lawfare campaigns. Governments must stand up for UNRWA and other organisations that are
    similarly targeted, push back on allegations that are made without credible evidence, and proactively address impacts such as bank derisking and challenges with payment platforms. Governments must demand and ensure the immediate reversal of the UNRWA ban.
  • Ensure the UN-led humanitarian appeal for Gaza is fully funded. International donors should also increase support to local Palestinian organisations at the heart of the response, including those that are women-led, and support liquidity to mitigate the collapse of the banking system.
  • Ensure that the opinions and analysis of Palestinians in Gaza are heard at the global level. Greater efforts must be made to ensure that discussions about the response to the crisis and the future of Gaza include those who are most affected, including marginalised groups. Women and youth groups must be included.
  • Increase pressure on Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestine, including its blockade of Gaza, in line with the resolution unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2024. International governments must not be complicit in sustaining the occupation and must outline a clear plan to end it, in line with the ICJ Advisory Opinion.
  • Promote justice and accountability, including support for international justice mechanisms and ensuring reparations for Palestinians for damages incurred by the assault on Gaza and the occupation of Palestine.

 

Achieving these steps will require meaningful political pressure. Statements of concern and condemnation are not enough. International governments and world leaders have a legal and moral duty to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law. They must use all their political, economic and diplomatic leverage to apply real pressure on Israel, through actions such as:

  • Halt all arms licences and exports of weapons, parts and ammunition, including parts of F-35 fighter jets
  • Legislate to support bans on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and bans on goods produced in settlements
  • Review human rights obligations of any political agreements, for example, the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and suspend such agreements based on violations of international law
  • Support legal mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable for violations of international law
  • Consider targeted sanctions against officials responsible for violations of international law

 

Ultimately, we want to see a lasting peace where all people can live in safety and dignity and have their fundamental human rights upheld. We believe this will not be possible until the root causes of the crisis are addressed and there is an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

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