Middle East
Humanitarian
Appeal
Middle East
Humanitarian Appeal
Conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives. Millions in Gaza, Lebanon and the wider region urgently need shelter, food and basic supplies. Save lives. Donate now.
The scale of need is overwhelming
2.1 million
people - the entire population of Gaza - do not have enough to eat
1.9 million
people displaced in Gaza, and tens of thousands more in Lebanon
DEC charities are providing lifesaving aid in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria but urgently need more funds.
In Gaza, people are facing extreme levels of food insecurity, leaving the entire population at risk of famine. With limited supplies of aid, the situation is critical.
In Lebanon, the ceasefire agreement at the end of last year meant some of the hundreds of thousands displaced by conflict could return to their communities. But months on, many still have no home to return to, and many more are cut off from basic services.
DEC charities and their local partners continue to work tirelessly to support people in unimaginably difficult conditions across the region, as they have been doing throughout the crisis. During periods of ceasefire they have been able to significantly scale up their work.
Over £45 million has been raised but the needs are huge. DEC charities are responding across the region, where the needs are greatest.
Actors Riz Ahmed, Joe Alwyn and Ruth Negga join the call for urgent donations to help provide lifesaving aid in Gaza, Lebanon and the wider region.
Donate to help people in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria.
You can help people affected by the crisis in the Middle East by making a donation and helping to raise money for the DEC appeal. This will allow DEC charities and their local partners to scale up their response and reach more people.
- £30 could provide blankets for six people to keep them warm
- £50 could provide emergency food, for five families for one week
- £100 could provide emergency shelter for five families
Will funds from this appeal help people in Israel?
DEC appeal responses always focus on those areas where significant humanitarian needs are not being met. Read more.
Salam, a volunteer with Wefaq organisation in Gaza and partner of DEC charity ActionAid, Feb 2025. Image: Wattan Media Network/ActionAid
How DEC charities are providing aid as the crisis evolves
Throughout the crisis DEC charities have been working hard to cope with limited deliveries of aid. Currently no aid supplies have entered Gaza since the beginning of March 2025, and the humanitarian crisis is deteriorating every day.
During the temporary ceasefire earlier in the year, DEC charities were able to replenish supplies such as food, medicine and essential hygiene items. These have helped to sustain their operations over the past weeks..
Mohammad, an aid worker from Oxfam’s local partner in north Lebanon distributes hygiene kits to displaced people at a collective shelter. Photo: Fatima Ghemrawi/Utopia for Social Justice/Oxfam
Where DEC charities are responding
For over a year, conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives across the region, and millions have fled their homes in search of safety.
The work of DEC charities and their local partners has continued throughout the conflict to provide some relief to those affected. The needs are still incredibly high.
Read more about where our charities are responding and how.
Saleem has been been delivering health packages to people returning to their communities northern Gaza. Image: Aya Matrabie/DEC/Fairpicture
Meet the people delivering lifesaving aid in Gaza
At the heart of the lifesaving aid being delivered by DEC charities and their partners in Gaza, are local aid workers. People who despite dealing with enormous challenges personally and professionally, continue to make incredible sacrifices to help others.
DEC charities and their local partners have continued to adapt their work to deal with new challenges throughout the crisis.
Appeal News
The latest news from the situation in the Middle East.
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Middle East Humanitarian Appeal raises over £45 million
21 April 2025
Since launching the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal in October last year, we have raised more than £45 million thanks to the generosity of the UK public, as well as £10 million matched by the UK Government.
DEC charities and their local partners are currently supporting people across Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank with vital food, water, medical care, hygiene supplies and mental health support.
DEC charities supporting families on the move in Gaza
27 January 2025
DEC charities are working to support some of the tens of thousands of people now returning to northern Gaza, with several hundred thousand expected to move in the coming weeks from displacement camps and shelters in the south.
One aid worker in Gaza told the DEC that people are returning to their communities, despite many knowing already they no longer have a home to go to:
“People are on the move back ‘home’ as they feel better to have a tent on their homeland than a tent somewhere else. They have been living in tents for 15 months everywhere - on traffic islands, roads, even on the beach.”
DEC charities “hopeful” they can increase aid in Gaza following ceasefire, with generous UK donations already making a difference
19 January 2025
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charities are hopeful that the ceasefire in Gaza – which began this morning – will provide them and their local partners with a critical opportunity to scale up their work delivering urgently needed food, shelter, water and medical care.
After more than a year of devastating conflict, the ceasefire provides some respite for the millions of people in Gaza who are now enduring an unbearably harsh winter. For the hostages and their families in Israel, it offers hope of reunion, after months of suffering and grief.
His Majesty The King meets fundraisers and aid workers as Middle East Humanitarian Appeal appeal raises £35 million
4 December 2024
Credit: Andrew Aitchison/DEC
His Majesty The King visited St Peter’s Church in Notting Hill today to meet and thank Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) staff, volunteers, aid workers and humanitarian experts, fundraisers and those who have worked on the DEC’s Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
During the visit His Majesty also met with humanitarian workers and experts from DEC member charities, including aid workers who have recently returned from Gaza.
Since the launch in October, the Appeal has raised more than £35 million in aid of people across the Middle East whose lives have been devastated by conflict. Their Majesties The King and Queen were among the first to donate to the Appeal.
Life in Gaza: How DEC charities are supporting women in displacement camps
28 November 2024
Darine and her children look out over the sea at their beachside camp. Image: Majdi Fathi, October 2
A look into the situation on the ground in Gaza and how women are being affected by living conditions in displacement camps.
To find out more, the DEC spoke to Ruth James, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator in the Middle East for Oxfam, about her experiences.
Ruth, having recently returned from Gaza, said:
"Gaza is unique as a humanitarian context because people are trapped, they have nowhere to go, bordered on one side by conflict and the other by sea.”
All donations will go to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal. Income earned on funds held (such as bank interest) may be used to fund the whole of the DEC’s work.
