On Nakba Day, What Does ‘Home’ Mean to Palestinians?
On May 15, we commemorate Nakba Day and share these stories from our Islamic Relief Palestine staff, told in their own words.
In Gaza, the toll of the ongoing conflict is staggering. Since October 2023, over 72,000 Palestinians have been killed. Tens of thousands more are injured, and over a million are displaced.
The region faces famine and severe food insecurity. There is no safe place to run to. No power for hospitals. Basic supplies are increasingly limited and out of reach.
There are no safe zones in Gaza; everywhere faces ongoing bombings. Israeli forces continue pressing on with the assault despite cease-and-desist orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and a ceasefire agreement.
Amid the rampant destruction, our teams on the ground have been working hard to ensure your support for Palestine is reaching those in most need.
Since 1997, Islamic Relief has been on the ground, operating in Palestine. Working alongside UN humanitarian organisations and local partners, our staff, and volunteers continue to distribute aid throughout Gaza every day since the escalations began.
We are delivering ready-to-eat meals daily in Gaza, as well as medical supplies and other essential non-food items.
So far, we have distributed more than 13 million meals, as well as thousands of other aid. This includes hygiene kits, clean water, and psychosocial support for children. Help us continue our lifesaving work.
Islamic Relief is planning a meat pack distribution for Gaza in 2026.
Our staff are continually monitoring the situation on the ground and developing plans and contingency measures so that your support can reach Palestinians in desperate need.
While the ceasefire, agreed in November, has improved the security situation in Gaza, Palestinians living there still suffer daily attacks and severe humanitarian deprivation.
The Israeli occupation tightly controls the flow of items – including food – into Gaza, so trucks containing aid are often left waiting at the border for long periods or blocked from entering entirely. This is a concern for qurban distributions as fresh meat could spoil.
On top of this, many families remain displaced, sometimes without access to cooking utensils, and the electricity supply throughout the Gaza Strip is intermittent.
All humanitarian agencies, including Islamic Relief, are seeing their efforts to support communities in Gaza curtailed by restrictions. This goes beyond just qurban distributions. For the people of Gaza to get even close to the amount of aid they need, Israeli restrictions on goods entering Gaza must be lifted.
Since 2024, animals have been bought and slaughtered in nearby countries, then swiftly frozen to be transported to Gaza in refrigerated trucks.
Heartbreakingly, in 2025, it was not possible to distribute meat to families in Gaza as the Israeli occupation restricted what could be brought into the besieged enclave. Instead, the meat was provided to more than 412,500 Palestinian refugees elsewhere.
Prior to October 2023, Islamic Relief was able to perform our annual qurbani distributions as planned, with accommodations made as necessary to ensure the safety of our staff, partners and the communities we serve.
Islamic Relief carefully plans all of our Dhul Hijjah distributions, but the situation in Gaza presents a particular challenge.
In doing our utmost to ensure meat reaches those in need, and that our donors can fulfil their religious obligations, we are continually assessing the situation in Gaza, and developing contingency plans as needed.
These efforts reflect our unwavering commitment to supporting Palestinians in need in Gaza, even as the Israeli occupation continues to obstruct the flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory.
Islamic Relief has been supporting the people of the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1997, and our staff and partners on the ground have continued to provide lifesaving support throughout the crisis in Gaza.
At present, our work in Gaza includes an education project providing lessons to more than 100 displaced students and Islamic Relief’s long-standing Orphan Sponsorship Programme, which rapidly expanded to meet needs since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began. By the close of 2025, more than 24,400 children were receiving a monthly stipend through the Orphan Sponsorship Programme to meet their most basic needs.
On May 15, we commemorate Nakba Day and share these stories from our Islamic Relief Palestine staff, told in their own words.
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