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People are are facing unimaginable suffering, as Gaza faces the horror of major violence and airstrikes.
Strikes are thought to have destroyed tens of thousands of homes, and 4 in 5 people have had to flee their homes. As many are forced to seek shelter in dozens of schools and hospitals, they urgently need food and other basic survival items.
Islamic Relief is supporting vulnerable families with hot ready-to-eat meals, which are a lifeline far starving families.
Islamic Relief is now partnering with the UN World Food Programme to bring emergency food supplies into Gaza.
Currently we’re cooking hot meals daily for over 140,000 people who have fled their homes, are now living in overcrowded shelters and are in desperate need of food. So far, with WFP we’ve cooked over 27.2 million ready-to-eat meals since the start of the escalation.
However, more aid needs to urgently be allowed into Gaza, as the UN reports Gaza is likely to enter famine imminently. 1 million people in Gaza are suffering severe hunger. Children are dying from starvation and most families are now going whole days without eating.
Your donations are life-changing for vulnerable families in Gaza. These hot ready-to-eat meals offer a moment of relief and hope amid the dire circumstances.
Since October 2023, we have provided over R463 million worth of and delivered over 27.2 million hot meals.
. The above figures were last updated on 11th July 2024.
A recent IPC report has shown that famine is imminent in Gaza.
Children and elderly people are starving as Israel blocks aid, uses hunger as a weapon of war, and attacks civilians as they desperately try to reach food trucks. At the same time, some international governments have cut off funding for UNRWA, the biggest UN agency on the ground.
The IPC report shows that in many parts of northern Gaza the threshold for famine has now been passed. Almost 1 in 3 infants there are now acutely malnourished, yet aid to the north is repeatedly blocked.
It is now a race against time to massively increase the humanitarian response and get aid to everyone who needs it. More than 1 million lives are at stake and every minute matters.
Famine has not been declared in Gaza, but it has begun. If Israel’s attacks and blockade continue, full blown famine is expected anytime.
For months Islamic Relief’s team in Gaza has reported on families struggling to survive the world’s worst food crisis, and warned that famine was imminent. We and our local partners have worked tirelessly to distribute food wherever possible, providing over 27.2 million ready to eat meals through operations fraught with difficulty and danger. But soaring needs have dwarfed the meagre amount of aid Israel permits to enter the coastal enclave.
This week’s grim IPC report confirmed the desperate and rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza, pointing out that the entire population faces high levels of acute food insecurity. Worse still, a staggering 1.1 million Palestinians are experiencing ‘catastrophic food insecurity’ – a figure which has nearly doubled since the last IPC report, released in December.
This means that half of Gaza’s population faces an extreme lack of food, even after trying all possible coping methods such as rationing, selling belongings, and moving elsewhere in search of food. People are starving, dying, and destitute; and acute malnutrition rates are critical.
In many parts of northern Gaza, where Israel has repeatedly blocked humanitarian aid missions, the threshold for famine has now been passed. Almost 1 in 3 infants there are now acutely malnourished.
Highlighting the “horrifying levels of hunger and suffering” in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that, “This is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system –anywhere, anytime.”
We are working with UN agencies such as the World Food Programme, who are bringing in some food via the Kerem Shalom crossing which we then distribute. Through a number of additional trucks, we have also been able to bring in and deliver vital hygiene, medical and personal items. This included warm winter clothing, feminine hygiene products and children’s nappies.
Items such as blankets and hygiene kits have been brought in through the Rafah crossing, and we are constantly trying to get more in.
Despite the huge challenges, our team in Gaza and our local partners are delivering aid every day. So far, we’ve cooked over 27.2 million ready-to-eat meals for displaced families in the overcrowded shelters.
We desperately need more aid to get into Gaza, alongside a permanent ceasefire. Only an estimated 10% of the required food aid is getting in. There has been little improvement, with the amount of aid coming in remaining just a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed.