Author: Nadya Labiba

In September 2023, eastern Libya was struck by devastating floods.  

Hospitals and morgues struggled to cope with what the United Nations called a “calamity of epic proportions”. It left the nation with over 5,200 deaths and 10,000 people reported missing.  

Libya’s worst disaster in modern history significantly altered its landscape. 30,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, along with roads and bridges. Communities were cut off and more than 40,000 individuals were internally displaced.   

Waterborne diseases became a serious concern in the aftermath, with infrastructure severely contaminated.  

Working with local partners to deliver aid in Libya

Although Islamic Relief does not have a permanent presence in the country, we were determined to help survivors. To do so, we teamed up with local partners in Libya.

Working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Islamic Relief provided blankets, mattresses, medical aid, food kits and baby items to families affected by the floods.   

The road ahead after the disaster

Islamic Relief is supporting Libya’s flood-affected population on the path to sustainable recovery through several ongoing projects.   

This includes working with international non-governmental organisations in Libya to provide shelter to displaced families; restore vital public infrastructure and services; and help affected children come to terms with what they have experienced through counselling and recreational activities. Through this collaboration, we also aim to strengthen the public health system by delivering emergency primary healthcare services.  

Disaster capacity-building is another key element on the road to recovery. Local organisations are often among the first to respond when disasters strike. Hence, strengthening and supporting them is an important part of our work in Libya.

Working with WHAF (World Humanitarian Action Forum), we have been training 100 local civil society organisations on disaster and crisis management. We are empowering them to prepare for and handle future disasters more effectively.  

Islamic Relief has supported almost 10,000 people in Libya to date, yet everyday life remains challenging for thousands of affected people.

500 days of war has turned Sudan into the world’s biggest hunger crisis and starvation is spreading across the country, Islamic Relief is warning.

Islamic Relief’s Regional Humanitarian Manager, Mohamed Abduwahid Omar, has just visited sites for displaced people in Gedaref, southeast Sudan, which has received hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence. He says:

“The sites for displaced people are overcrowded and overwhelmed, and 80% of the people there are women and children. I visited a half-built bus station that has been turned into a reception centre for processing new arrivals. There were 1,450 people there who had arrived scared, exhausted and hungry, and more arrive every day. There’s not enough space so many people have to sleep outside in the cold and pouring rain.

“There are only five toilets to share between everyone, and now the rainy season has begun there is a growing risk of diseases. In one recent assessment over 40% of people surveyed had at least one family member with serious diarrhoea due to the poor conditions. 

“People were crying as they spoke to me. They’re scared and feel hopeless for the future and just want the world to help stop this nightmare.

“I met a blind man who has been displaced four times in the last year as the fighting has spread. He doesn’t know where he will go next if he has to flee again. All he cares about is surviving from one day to the next and finding something to eat.” 

500 days of war has left 25.6 million people – over half the population – facing acute hunger. Around 13 million people have now fled their homes. 

While conditions in parts of eastern Sudan like Gedaref are deteriorating, many other parts of Sudan are even worse.

Islamic Relief staff in Darfur, where the organisation supports nutrition centres, are seeing children wasting away from severe malnutrition. There are reports of families having to eat leaves from trees or even animal feed as they have nothing else.

Famine conditions were officially declared earlier this month in Zamzam camp in North Darfur. Medical facilities in South Darfur have reported 4–5 children dying a day from malnutrition. 

Since the war broke out, Islamic Relief has reached over 950,000 people with vital aid including food, nutrition support, cash and medical supplies. 

However, aid agencies and local authorities are struggling to cope with the scale of the crisis. The humanitarian response is desperately short of funds.

Parties to the conflict continue to obstruct access to some of the worst-affected areas through a combination of bureaucratic delays and ongoing violence. Sudan has become one of the most dangerous places in the world to deliver aid.

At least 37 aid workers have been killed since the war erupted. Dozens more aid workers have been assaulted and over 120 humanitarian offices. Warehouses have been looted by armed groups, including Islamic Relief offices. 

In Gedaref, humanitarian agencies have relatively good access but the lack of funding is hampering the response. The local authorities have set up eight reception centres to triage displaced people to other purpose-built sites, but most of these are still being developed and are not yet ready to house people. The reception centres are being overwhelmed and are at breaking point. 

Despite the enormous suffering, the crisis in Sudan is largely neglected by the world.

Islamic Relief is calling on international governments to urgently intensify diplomatic efforts for an immediate ceasefire, step up pressure on the warring parties to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access, and increase humanitarian funding. 

Four months since the Paris Conference in April, very little of the $2.2 billion that international donors pledged to the humanitarian response in Sudan has materialised and promises have not been fulfilled.

In particular, Islamic Relief is urging donors to prioritise funding for actions to prevent famine, such as providing cash so that people can purchase food from local markets and supporting small-scale farmers with seeds and tools for agriculture.

International governments should also increase support to Sudanese local community-based responders. Local Emergency Response Rooms and community kitchens have been at the forefront of the humanitarian response since the start of the war, but many have had to shut down due to lack of funds and attacks. 

Kindness towards the orphan is a significant part of Islam. A core part of Islamic values is social justice. We each have a responsibility to protect and uphold the rights of Allah (SWT)’s creations, especially the vulnerable.  

In poverty-stricken and war-torn countries, many children are left vulnerable and orphaned. In these harsh conditions, they struggle to survive. They lack the support and stability they need to thrive and live a fulfilled life.  

The orphan is mentioned a total of 23 times in the Qur’an. Many of these verses emphasise the importance of protecting their rights, treating them with kindness, or providing for them.  

Orphan sponsorship fulfils many of these responsibilities. It provides an orphan with their basic rights – food and water, education and medical care – and more. It allows them to stay with their families, where they can receive the love and emotional support they need as they work towards a brighter future.  

Hence, there are many rewards associated with sponsoring an orphan, both in this life and the next. Here are ten rewards you can earn if you care for orphans in this way. 

Closeness to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) 

The act of caring for the orphan is particularly dear to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)’s heart. He himself (ﷺ) was also an orphan. His father passed away before he was even born, and his mother passed away when he was a young child. 

In a famous hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) also said, “The one who cares for an orphan and myself will be together in Paradise like this”, and he (saw) held his two fingers together to illustrate. (Bukhari)  

Having ‘The Best House’ 

Ultimately, having the ‘best house’ in Islam isn’t about its material value – how much it costs or how beautiful it looks. The best home is one filled with kindness and love. One that welcomes angels, remembers the Name of Allah (SWT) and loves the Sunnah. This includes showing care and concern for orphans, whether it be through giving charity or spreading awareness of the hardships orphans face.  

Being Among the Righteous

In his Last Sermon given on Hajj, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) taught us that all human beings are completely equal in status ‘except in piety and good deeds’. 

Our status in the eyes of Allah is dependent upon our righteous actions — and one of the ways we can achieve righteousness is by giving to orphans: 

In this verse of Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah (SWT) says spending wealth for His sake is a righteous quality. He (SWT) also specifically mentions orphans as people deserving of our wealth. Hence, sponsoring an orphan is a righteous deed that has been given a truly high status by Allah (SWT).  

Blessed Wealth  

With the cost of living rising, many of us struggle to give as generously as we once did. However, giving for the sake of Allah (SWT) can actually increase our wealth, rather than deplete it. 

It is important to remember that Allah (SWT) controls our rizq (provision). When we give towards noble causes and put full trust in Him with our wealth, even with our worries about our finances, Allah (SWT) blesses that wealth, and ensures we are provided for.  

Can Count Towards Your Zakat 

Zakat (almsgiving) is an obligatory charity in Islam. Every sane Muslim with wealth above a certain threshold (nisab) must give Zakat. Giving Zakat also has many benefits, including purifying our hearts and being one of the keys for us to enter paradise.  

Many orphans in poor and needy communities fall under the category of Zakat. You can fulfil your Zakat through orphan sponsorship. 

Orphan sponsorship can be paid yearly or in monthly instalments. Scholars accept that it is possible to pay Zakat in monthly installments if it is done well before your Zakat is due. If your monthly installments end up being short of the total amount of Zakat you owe on this due date, you must make up for the gap.  

Opens Doors to the Beauty of Jannah 

In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) describes in detail the beautiful things we will earn in Jannah by doing good deeds, such as giving food to the needy and orphans, purely for His sake: 

SubhanAllah, Allah (SWT) is truly the Most Generous. By doing such a simple, kind deed as giving some food to the orphans and needy in this world, Allah (SWT) promises us the luxuries of Jannah, multiplying what we gave many times over. 

Provides a Sadaqah Jariyah 

When you sponsor an orphan, your support stays with them for the long term. Even when they stop needing sponsorship, you’ve helped build this foundation for them to go to school, make a living and empower the next generation.  

When a sponsorship provides continuous benefit to the child and, potentially, their future generations to come, it becomes a Sadaqah Jariyah. An ongoing charity that gives you many rewards, even after death.  

Every time the orphan you sponsored uses something they learnt at school, you will be rewarded. Every time they make du’a for you, you will benefit. Because YOU transformed an orphan’s life and helped them fulfil their potential.  

Countless Opportunities for Barakah  

Islamic Relief’s orphan sponsorship program provides one-to-one support for the orphan and their family. We have a field officer assigned to each sponsored child who is informed of any issues the family or the community faces, allowing us to help solve these problems effectively. 

For example, we can provide widows with a sustainable livelihood. Or we can construct proper hygiene and sanitation facilities within the community. This way, a single orphan sponsorship sets off a chain reaction of Sadaqah Jariyah. Thus, providing more barakah to not only the donor and the orphan they sponsor, but also the whole community!  

Entrance Through Jannah’s Gate of Joy  

When we support an orphan, Allah (SWT) recognises not only the practical help we give, but also the happiness. Every child deserves to grow up in a loving and supportive environment that allows them to reach their full potential.  

By providing orphan sponsorship for the sake of Allah (SWT), we pray to bring so much joy to children in need. So that, someday, we can be called through the gate of Joy into Jannah. 

Saves Lives 

Sponsoring an orphan goes beyond simply improving their life. It can be a lifeline, potentially saving children in need from poverty, illness, and death. It can positively affect not only the orphan, but also their family and entire community. 

As it says in the Quran, “And whoever saves a life it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind” (5:32). 

Thus, when you sponsor an orphan, you not only save their life. But you also protect countless future generations of children, ensuring they can still thrive and build livelihoods amid hardship.

Beautiful Benefits of Orphan Sponsorship

All in all, sponsoring an orphan can bring many rewards that benefit us in this life and the Hereafter.  

It brings us closer to the Prophet (ﷺ), gives you ‘the best house’, and is a noble deed – one that can be done as Zakat or Sadaqah.

A Sadaqah Jariyah that contains incredible barakah. One that blesses your wealth and allows you to be called through the gate of Joy into Jannah and enjoy the (literally) heavenly luxuries. On top of all this, it can save lives!  

You can sponsor an orphan for $100 a month (or $1,200 a year), providing them with all their basic needs and more! An orphan sponsorship is truly life-changing, for you, us and the child we support.

Aid agencies and medical professionals have joined forces to call for a ceasefire to allow life-saving polio vaccinations to be administered to about 640,000 children aged under 10. This follows confirmation of the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years, with reports of other suspected cases emerging.

At least 50,000 children born during the past 10 months of hostilities are highly unlikely to have received any immunisations due to the collapsed health system. While older children among the one million children in Gaza will have had their regular vaccine schedules disrupted or halted by violence and displacement.

Polio had been eliminated in Gaza more than two decades ago, but last month the WHO reported that the virus had been found in sewage samples from sites in Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah. This month, one case was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health in an unvaccinated 10-month-old child in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The reemergence of the poliovirus in Gaza is a direct result of the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, and the Government of Israel’s restrictions on repairs and supplies. Coupled with overcrowding, displacement, and a crippled healthcare system, these actions have created an environment ripe for the spread of the virus in Gaza.

A group of about 20 aid agencies and 20 medical professionals who have worked in Gaza said polio vaccines are in the region and ready to be distributed in August and September. However, this requires full access for humanitarian supplies into Gaza from all border crossings, and safe, unhindered movement within the Strip. This can only be achieved with an immediate end to hostilities.

“Now polio is confirmed, the response needs to be measured in hours, not weeks. Without immediate action, an entire generation is at risk of infection, and hundreds of children face paralysis by a highly communicable disease that can be prevented with a simple vaccine,” said Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East. “These children do not have the luxury of time.” 

Polio, a virus that can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours, is particularly dangerous in Gaza, where high malnutrition rates and toxic stress levels make children more vulnerable to infection. With Ministry of Health confirmations of polio in a 10-month-old in Deir Al-Balah, and WHO reports confirming the presence of poliovirus in wastewater, the situation is beyond alarming.

Humanitarian operations across Gaza are severely hindered by the ongoing bombardment and the obstruction of critical aid supplies and fuel at Israeli-controlled crossing points, and dangerous transit inside the Gaza Strip. Specialist refrigerated trucks needed to safely transport vaccines have been repeatedly rejected from entry, leaving thousands of children at risk.

“The health system in Gaza was destroyed long ago,” said Nahed Abu Iyada, CARE West Bank and Gaza’s Health Program Field Officer. “Without an immediate ceasefire and access to vaccines and humanitarian aid across the Strip, the people of Gaza are facing a public health disaster that will spread and endanger children across the region and beyond.”

Humanitarian organisations urgently call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire to allow polio vaccinations to take place in Gaza. For a polio vaccination campaign to be effective, it must be able to reach at least 95% of targeted children, and this cannot happen in an active war zone. Any ceasefire or pause requested by the UN must be used to facilitate full humanitarian access, not just for vaccines but for the full range of assistance needed to sustain civilians’ basic needs. All parties to conflict have an obligation to facilitate humanitarian access at all times, regardless of whether conflict is active or not.

Notes to Editors

The World Health Organization has confirmed the presence of poliovirus in Gaza.

Polio can cause total paralysis within hours and is especially dangerous for children under five.

Signed

• Islamic Relief Worldwide
• MedGlobal
• ActionAid
• Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
• War Child
• Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
• WeWorld
• CARE
• Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
• Humanity & Inclusion/ Handicap International (HI)
• DanChurchAid
• ChildFund Alliance
• Plan International
• Accion Contra el Hambre (ACF)
• Médicos del Mundo (Médecins du Monde Spain)
• Oxfam
• International Rescue Committee
• Mercy Corps
• Children Not Numbers NGO
• Save the Children

Doctors and medical professionals

Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, FICS

Trauma, critical care, acute care, and General Surgeon

Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25 – April 8, 2024

French Camp, CA

Thaer Ahmad, MD

Emergency Medicine Physician

Served at Nasser Hospital, January 2024

John Kahler, MD, FAAP

MedGlobal Cofounder

Served in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza, January,  March 2024

Abdullah Ghali, MD

Orthopedic Surgery Resident

European Hospital in Khan Younis, April 3 – 8, 2024

Houston, TX

Abeerah Muhammad MSN, RN, CEN

Emergency and Critical Care Nurse

European Hospital, May 2024

Yipeng Ge, MD, MPH, CCFP

Primary Care Physician and Public Health Practitioner

Tal Al Sultan Primary Health Care Center in Rafah, February 12-19, 2024

Ottawa, Canada

Benjamin Thomson, MD, MSc, MPH(c), FRCPC

Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Public Health

Multiple sites in Rafah, Deir-el-balah

March 2024

Toronto, Canada

Noor Amin, MD, CCFP(SEM), FCFP

Primary Care, Emergency and Sports Medicine physician

Al Aqsa Hospital and European Gaza Hospital April 2024

Mississauga, Canada

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

Internal Medicine/Pediatrician

Al-Aqsa Shushes Hospital, June 24- July 16, 2024

Nabeel Rana, MD

Vascular Surgeon

Served at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Deir al-Balah, June 20 – July 9, 2024

Hina Cheema, MD

Obstetrician and Gynecologist

Served in Al Emirati hospital, Rafah March 2024

Served in Nassar hospital, Khan Younis, June-July, 2024

Ahmed Ebeid

Anesthesia

Served in European General Hospital, January – February 2024

Served in Kamal Eledwan Hospital, March – April 2024

Bilal Piracha, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor Emergency Medicine

Served at Aqsa Hospital, DeirAl-Balah, March 7 -19 & July 19- 25, 2024

Served at Al Ahli Hospital (Gaza City), July 26 – August 1, 2024

Professor Nick Maynard MS, FRCS, FRCSEd

Consultant Surgeon (General and Thoracic Surgery)

Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford, UK
Served as member of Medical Aid for Palestinians Emergency Medical teams in Gaza:

December 26, 2023 – January 8, 2024, Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir Al Balah, Gaza

April 22– May 6,  2024, Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir Albalah, Gaza

Javid Abdelmoneim FRCP, DTMH

Emergency Medicine Physician

Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis June – July 2024

Khaled Dawas MD, FRCS (General Surgeon)

Consultant Surgeon

University College London Hospitals

Member of Medial Aid for Palestinians Emergency Medical Teams in Gaza 2023/4

Dr. Trish Scanlan

Paediatrician  & Co-Medical Director

Children Not Numbers

Dr James Smith MBBS, MA, MSc, MSc

Emergency Physician, UK

Lecturer in Humanitarian Policy and Practice, UCL, UK

Served in Al Aqsa Hospital, December 16, 2023 – January 8, 2024

Served in Al-Mawasi, Rafah, Al-Aqsa Hospital, & supported patient evacuations ins Gaza City, North Gaza)

Alia Kattan MD

Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine

Served in European General Hospital, Gaza, April 29 – May 17, 2024

Tanya Haj-Hassan, BMBCh, MSc

Served in Gaza, March 11-25, 2024

Fatal attacks on aid workers have risen to an all-time high and are being carried out with impunity, Islamic Relief is warning ahead of World Humanitarian Day (19 August).

At least 456 aid workers have been killed in 33 countries since the beginning of 2023, with last year the deadliest on record and this year continuing at the same rate. Another 472 aid workers have been wounded or kidnapped in the same period.

New data published this week shows that fatal attacks on humanitarian workers have increased by 400% over the last 20 years – with 280 killed in 2023 compared to 56 killed in 2004. So far, in 2024, at least 176 have already been killed. The 2023 total is almost double any previous year in the last two decades.

Israeli attacks on Gaza account for more than half of the fatalities, with at least 286 aid workers – almost all Palestinian – killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. Israel’s relentless bombing has turned Gaza into the world’s deadliest place to deliver aid, with hospitals, ambulances, schools, shelters, aid convoys, offices, and other civilian infrastructure targeted and destroyed. 

Humanitarian workers are coming under frequent attack in other countries too, with Sudan and South Sudan the next deadliest places to deliver aid. At least 37 aid workers have been killed in Sudan since war broke out there in April 2023, while dozens of staff have been assaulted and over 120 humanitarian offices and warehouses have been looted by armed groups.

With record numbers of people around the world in need of humanitarian aid, these increasing attacks on aid workers are having a chilling effect on the world’s most vulnerable people.

Attacks against humanitarian workers – and their premises and assets – violate international law. Yet we are seeing increasing disregard for these laws, and a failure to hold attackers accountable.

Islamic Relief is calling for UN member states to step up efforts to protect humanitarian workers, assets, and premises – as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2730 which was adopted in May this year. They should also hold perpetrators to account for violations.

More must be done to protect local aid workers. Attacks on international aid workers — such as the killing of World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza in April — sometimes attract headlines and global condemnation. However, most of the aid workers killed and attacked are national staff, who get just a fraction of the attention.

An Islamic Relief aid worker in Gaza, whose name is withheld for his safety, says:

Notes

World Humanitarian Day was set up by the UN General Assembly in 2009 to recognise humanitarian workers killed around the world. It is marked every year on 19 August, the day on which 23 people were killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003.

Data for attacks on aid workers comes from the Aid Worker Security Database managed by Humanitarian Outcomes: https://www.aidworkersecurity.org/

The killing of 40,000 people in Gaza should be a source of eternal global shame, Islamic Relief Worldwide says.

These 40,000 people are not just numbers. They include babies, children, mothers, fathers, farmers, shopkeepers, students, teachers, journalists, doctors, aid workers, artists, entrepreneurs, grandparents and much more. Gaza’s entire society is being killed as the world watches.

There can be no justification for this massacre, which is taking place in full sight of world leaders who have repeatedly failed or refused to act. These deaths are the inevitable consequence of allowing international law to be violated with impunity. As the death toll rises above 40,000, Palestinians in Gaza do not need more hollow words from international governments – they need meaningful action. Governments must do everything in their power to pressure Israel to stop the killing, including halting arms sales, suspending trade agreements and supporting accountability.

To say there is nowhere safe in Gaza has become a startling understatement.

Civilians have become moving targets. Israel has bombed civilians in homes, schools, mosques, churches, markets, hospitals, and refugee camps. The Israeli military has ordered families to leave their homes and go to shelters, then bombed them in those shelters. Hundreds have been killed in just the past few days.

These include dozens of people torn to pieces when Israel bombed a school where hundreds of families had sought refuge. At the same time, Israel continues to block sufficient humanitarian aid from reaching people, using starvation as a weapon of war and pushing communities into famine.

40,000 people killed in just over 10 months is almost impossible to comprehend. But in reality, the death toll is likely to be even higher, with thousands of bodies still unaccounted for and many presumed to be still under the rubble. Many academics expect tens of thousands more people will die from hunger, disease, and denial of access to medical care. As needs have increased, the amount of aid allowed in by Israel has gone down.

Another 92,000 people have been wounded, many of them with permanent life-changing injuries such as loss of limbs. An incredible 1 in every 17 Palestinians in Gaza have now been killed or wounded. There is not a single person or family untouched by this horror.

It is too late for tens of thousands of people, but this killing must stop, and it must stop now.

An Islamic Relief aid worker* in Gaza searches for meaning after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter, but finds only incomprehensible horror. 

It was an extremely terrifying day. I woke up to the news that Israel had targeted a space for prayer at al-Tabeen School. (A shelter) where hundreds of displaced families have been sheltering. I instantly thought about my friends and colleagues in Islamic Relief. I started calling them. Alhamdulillah, they were all safe and sound. But they had lived through one of the worst experiences of their lives.  

“We heard a huge explosion not far from where I was staying,” one of my friends told me. “I could hear ambulances and firefighters rushing to the area. The noise continued until the sun had risen.” 

I remembered there was a hospital in the area where, before this crisis began, Islamic Relief supported services for newborn children. I asked my friend if this hospital was treating the injured from this new attack, but he said no. The only partially functioning hospital nearby is the Baptist Hospital (Al-Ahli Arab Hospital) where a huge attack in the first month of the war caused hundreds of deaths. That’s now the only place where the injured can receive any care. In fact, the people of Gaza are starting to see our healthcare centres as places that just handle dead bodies and prepare them for burials. North Gaza’s health sector is turning into a funeral home due to the lack of medicine, disposables and equipment.  

My friend told me that he had to have surgery to remove a bladder stone but couldn’t find anywhere in North Gaza still equipped to do the surgery. He had to undergo temporary bypass surgery just to help his bladder function properly, but he told me he’s in pain whenever he moves, walks or climbs the stairs. He has to endure because he has no other option.  

A sad morning, the smell of death everywhere 

After a while, I ended the call with my friend and went back to the news. Videos started appearing showing terrible scenes – tens of dead bodies; men, women and children. They had all been preparing to perform Al Fajr prayer. Some had finished their ablutions, some had just said Allahu Akbar, some might have just finished reading Al Fateha. It is beyond comprehension that their lives would end this way.  

“It is a sad morning in the city. The smell of death is everywhere,” another colleague from my team told me. “We used to deliver hot meals to that place every day. It was home to hundreds of displaced families. Any one of our teammates could have been among those who passed away.” 

An even more terrorising situation

Yes, at this stage of the war, the situation is even more terrorising than in the first few days. An airstrike can hit anywhere. Just a couple of days ago, my wife and kids went to visit my in-laws who have moved for the fourth time and are now closer to us. Just after they arrived, an airstrike hit nearby. Rubble was falling everywhere. One of the doors in the house where they’re staying blew open due to the blast. My wife and kids could have so easily been in the street. I might have lost them.  

Every day I go to work thinking an airstrike could hit nearby. I went to meet with displaced families at one of the schools that have been turned into shelters and I was so afraid that something would happen while I was there, especially as targeting schools is the norm these days. I can’t imagine why on Earth a school, mosque or hospital could be seen as a target. In the last week, at least 5 schools were destroyed in Gaza. I can’t bear to think about the future of the children who study in those schools. Where will they get their education after the war? 

Tired of being slaughtered 

After the attack on Saturday, healthcare workers couldn’t distinguish between the remains of the dead. The bombing produces tremendous heat that melts bodies. All hospital staff could do was put the remains in plastic bags. Families looking for their loved ones were given a 70kg bag of flesh if the missing person was an adult and an 18kg bag if they were a child. Families took these remains to the cemetery and buried it with a name on the gravestone.  

When I think about what is happening to us, the Palestinian people, I can’t comprehend it properly. We are now subjected to all kinds of torture, agony, deprivation and targeting. I can’t think of any nation in the world that has suffered like us. 

This is beyond humanity. This is something not even the darkest horror movie director could have thought of. The world that is watching is not human anymore. I’ve lost the belief that I can be normal after this. I’ve lost faith in the world. I write my words and erase them. (Nor can’t I) come up with a sentence to properly describe how I feel. I just want this madness to stop because we are tired of being slaughtered. We are being annihilated and the world is watching without doing anything. This is crazy. The consciousness of the world is dead. 

*This blog is anonymised to protect the safety and security of our colleague and others mentioned. Read the other blogs in this series here.  

Editor’s note: This blog was submitted amid a fast-changing and deepening crisis. The information was correct as of Monday 12 August.  

Afghanistan, three years after the change in power. Millions of Afghans continue to struggle in one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises.

Heavily dependent on humanitarian aid, Afghans are trapped in cycles of poverty, displacement, and despair. Afghanistan is at risk of becoming a forgotten crisis without sustained support and engagement from the international community.

This warning comes from Action Against Hunger (ACF), alongside CARE International (CARE), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), INTERSOS, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), People in Need (PiN), Save the Children International, and World Vision International (WVI).

Afghanistan is experiencing shock after shock.

The ongoing economic crisis, the legacy of decades of conflict, the impacts of climate change, and the gender crisis have taken a devastating toll on the country.

Despite the improvements in the country’s overall security situation, which has facilitated access to many new regions that were previously unreachable, there are still myriad of challenges. Ones that hinder us from reaching all those in need effectively.

The Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) 2024 shows that an estimated 23.7 million people need humanitarian assistance. Among them, 52% are children and 25% are women. Food insecurity is rampant. Around 6.3 million people remain displaced within the country, and unemployment has doubled compared to the past year.

Though humanitarian aid has been a lifeline to Afghan communities, the humanitarian funding appeal for 2024 has received only 25% of the requested funds as of 13 August 2024. Shrinking humanitarian funding is adversely impacting people’s daily lives.

A lack of funding for medium and longer-term programming has only heightened underlying vulnerabilities, adding to the humanitarian burden.

Already, this year, 343 mobile health teams have shut down, which equals 52% of all mobile health teams. This has had a significant impact on the health and nutrition response. Where populations are not able to access essential lifesaving services.

12.4 million people face acute food insecurity. And it is only expected to worsen, which could leave over half a million malnourished children deprived of lifesaving nutrition. Mothers are also disproportionately affected. Typically, they are the last to eat and eat the least.

Families, especially women-headed households, are being forced to make agonising decisions to survive. This includes relocating their families within the country, often joining informal settlements, making treacherous journeys across borders, and sending children to work.

The growing humanitarian financing gap, combined with the discontinuation of development assistance since August 2021, is pushing the country and its people into deeper poverty and vulnerability.

Signatories to this statement underscore that the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan cannot be addressed with humanitarian assistance alone. We need a comprehensive, sustained, and contextualised response from the international community.

Afghanistan desperately needs long-term development assistance to address the root causes of poverty.

Diplomatic engagement is crucial to creating an enabling environment in Afghanistan that will support upscaling international aid efforts. Efforts that should include development projects alongside emergency assistance.

The current isolationist approach of most donor countries does not support durable solutions to the challenges faced by the people of Afghanistan. This is especially true for children, women, ethnic and other marginalised groups.

To achieve a long-term solution to Afghanistan’s crisis requires ongoing cooperation between humanitarian and development actors. This includes local organisations, with the UN-led coordination system to ensure collective, principled, and strategic engagement with the de facto authorities (DfAs) to address operational challenges.

Some of the most common challenges include a range of bureaucratic and administrative impediments, challenges to transferring funds to Afghanistan, facilitating timely response to crises, and conducting crucial advocacy in compliance with international human rights standards.

Humanitarian actors in Afghanistan assess that inaction from the international community is costing the most vulnerable Afghans dearly. Without rapid efforts to increase diplomatic engagement and longer-term sustainable funding, Afghans, especially women and girls, will be left to suffer for years to come. Poverty is nearly universal. Humanitarian needs are rising due to the ever-growing economic crisis, the impacts of climate change, the gender crisis, and diminishing aid.

We call on the international community to…

Increase humanitarian and diplomatic engagement with the DfA

To improve our ability to reach all people in need, and provide aid effectively, efficiently, and equitably. To push the DfA to adhere to international human rights standards, including their obligations towards all genders of the population.

We need long-term relationship building and continuous engagement with the DfA. Collaborations that are underpinned by expertise in humanitarian access negotiations and policy dialogue is increasingly important if Afghanistan’s most fundamental challenges are to be addressed.

Bolster the return of development and longer-term programming

To avoid the country falling into deeper poverty and isolation, donors must bolster the return of development and longer-term programming. As well as funding to build resilient communities that are less dependent on aid.

This should include investments in gender-responsive/transformative agriculture, climate change adaptation, market-based approaches for food value chains, access to financial services for smallholder farmers, and women-led micro and small businesses.

Humanitarian partners are increasingly stepping up to deliver principled and impactful durable solutions programming in Afghanistan. There are tangible opportunities to scale up and broaden best practices.

The protection and safeguarding of the humanitarian space.

This should remain a critical priority for ensuring a needs-based and principled humanitarian response in the country. Humanitarian partners over the years have delivered assistance to affected communities in line with humanitarian principles. We urge the international community for its continued support.

The international community should seek cooperation from the DfA.

These include on issues of mutual interest, such as economic development, while keeping up key demands. Such demands include lifting bureaucratic and administrative impediments (BAIs) and granting unimpeded humanitarian access across the country.

Fully fund the Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP).

Critical humanitarian funding should be sustained. There should be an increase in the volume and quality of funding to Afghan civil society organisations, especially Women-Led and Women Rights Organisations (WLOs/WROs) and organisations of persons with disabilities. This is so that partners have access to quality funding and humanitarian organisations can support the most vulnerable and marginalised people.

The continuation of gender-responsive multi-sectoral programming should be supported.

We need to ensure all humanitarian and long-term programs include a strong gender perspective and address the specific needs and rights of women and girls. To continue with both gender-responsive sectoral approaches as well as specialised services, humanitarian partners need flexible funding, so the most vulnerable groups continue receiving much-needed services.

Facilitate transactions into and within Afghanistan

Donor governments should continue to reassure financial service providers that they are able to facilitate transactions into and within Afghanistan, increasing private and public confidence in doing business in Afghanistan. This will ease the current impediments to the transfer of funds into the country.

Notes to editors

Afghanistan suffers from extreme weather events and environmental disasters. Most recently, in July 2024 severe floods impacted 29 districts across Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Nuristan, damaging homes, crops, and infrastructure and affecting 1,925 families (OCHA). A 6.3 magnitude earthquake affected the Herat in October 2023, impacting 2.2 million people, and damaging over 47,000 homes (OCHA).

There are an estimated 23.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan in 2024. Despite the severity of needs, only 25 per cent of the USD 3.06 billion required for the humanitarian response has been funded so far this year.

By June 2024, there are 6.3 million protracted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Approximately 680,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan since September 2023. They predominantly entered the country at the Torkham border crossing (IOM).

Afghanistan registers marginal improvement despite climatic shocks and high food prices, pushing 14.2 million people into high levels of food insecurity. (IPC Analysis May-October 2024)

Islamic Relief is horrified at the massacre of dozens of civilians at one of the school shelters where we have been distributing daily hot meals to displaced families.  

The Devastation of the Assault

The attack at al-Tabeen school in Gaza City on August 10th, 2024 has been the deadliest on a school shelter yet. Witnesses report 80-100 people killed and many more injured.

During the assault, Israeli missiles tore through the school’s classrooms and prayer room during dawn Fajr prayers. Around 2,000 young children, women, and men had been sheltering at the school. Forcibly displaced after the Israeli military ordered them to leave their homes.

The nearest hospital is overwhelmed with casualties. Many are badly burnt or bleeding severely from shrapnel wounds. Worse still, the hospital does not have the medical supplies to treat them all. 

Another Shelter Bombed in Gaza

We are horrified, but, sadly, we are no longer shocked by such massacres. Israel continues to bomb people’s shelters almost daily. All with complete impunity and disregard for international law. 85% of all schools in Gaza (477 out of 564) have now been damaged by bombing.

The school is one of many across Gaza where Islamic Relief and partner agencies have been providing daily cooked meals to families. These meals are often the only ones they get to eat each day, as famine conditions and starvation have spread.

Islamic Relief has also conducted psychosocial activities such as games and entertainment for displaced children at the school. No Islamic Relief staff or partners were present at the time of the bombing.

No Safe Place in Gaza

This latest massacre brings the death toll in Gaza to almost 40,000 Palestinians, with around 92,000 injured. An astounding 1 in every 17 people in Gaza has now been killed or wounded. This is in just over 10 months. And every single person in Gaza is affected.

Tens of thousands more people have been ordered to move yet again over the past few days. The Israeli military is herding people into small areas that are now extremely overcrowded and rife with starvation and disease. Many families have now been displaced 9 or 10 times over the past 10 months and the amount of aid being allowed into Gaza has reduced to little more than a trickle.

The international community has completely failed the people of Gaza. World leaders must use all the pressure they can to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to the constant forced displacement and attacks on fleeing civilians, and ensure accountability for such actions.

We are appalled at yet another deadly massacre at a school in central Gaza where desperate families have been ordered to shelter.   

Reports indicate that at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured at the school in Deir al Balah, with infant children among the dead and hospitals swamped with casualties. Such atrocities against civilians have become almost daily occurrences in Gaza.  

Israel’s policy of constantly forcing civilians to move from one place to another, and then attacking the schools and camps where they are told to go, is inhumane and causing unprecedented death and trauma. It is making the humanitarian crisis even more catastrophic by the day. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to move time and again over the past few weeks, with many families now displaced 9 or 10 times since the crisis escalated.  

Around 83% of Gaza is now subject to Israeli so-called ‘evacuation orders’ or no-go military zones. Over 2 million people have been forced into ever smaller areas where they cannot access food, clean water or sanitation, and where they face the constant threat of further attack.  

International governments must demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to the constant forced displacement and attacks on fleeing civilians, and ensure accountability for such actions.