What is happening in Gaza and can DEC charities still provide aid?

The catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to deteriorate, but donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are making a difference and helping DEC charities to reach people with lifesaving aid.

The announcement of temporary pauses in the conflict to increase aid deliveries into Gaza provides some long-awaited hope that DEC charities and their local partners can deliver more food, clean water and basic supplies. They are working to use this moment to do whatever they can and reach as many people as possible with support. 

The extraordinary challenges around aid delivery have had a devastating impact on their work over the past months. With extremely limited supplies of food, fuel and medicine, they have been unable to carry out some of their lifesaving work. Safe and sustained access for humanitarian aid has never been so urgent. 

What is happening in Gaza?

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The global hunger monitor, the IPC, has warned that ‘the worst-case scenario of famine’ is now unfolding. Reports of people dying from malnutrition and starvation are rising fast. The health system has been decimated, and a dire shortage of fuel means the few hospitals still operating are being forced to make impossible decisions about the treatment they can provide. The remaining supplies of medicine and baby formula have almost gone.

In the past weeks, a surge in mass casualty incidents linked to new aid distribution sites has overwhelmed the shattered healthcare system even further, pushing it past its limit.⁣ DEC charities and their local partners are working separately to those distribution sites to deliver the support they are still able to, as safely as they can, such as medical care.

Through everything, staff and their families are dealing with unimaginably harsh conditions and facing significant risks as they carry out their vital work.

How are DEC charities supporting people ?

Even in these dire conditions, DEC charities and local partners have still found ways to provide support. They are constantly adapting their operations to deliver whatever aid they can - as they have done throughout the crisis - supported by generous donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal. 

 Cash assistance is providing a lifeline as local market prices continue to spiral, enabling families to buy some food and essential items when they become available. Trained medical staff are providing vital care in field hospitals and clinics, even with medicine supplies running critically low.  

 DEC charities and their local partners have been working hard to continue delivering water, despite shortages of fuel and significant challenges moving around Gaza. Addressing severe shortages of food is the most urgent concern. Although a few DEC charities and their local partners have been distributing some hot meals and food parcels, without supplies entering Gaza, most have been unable to provide the food that so many had been relying on.  

Examples of how DEC charities and their local partners have supported people in Gaza over the past weeks include:

• ActionAid has been working with its local partner organisation to deliver hot meals through community kitchens.
   
• Concern Worldwide and its local partner have been delivering clean water to displaced families. They have also funded a 'water filtration' unit to provide clean water and lifesaving dialysis treatment at Gaza's last operational children's hospital. 
   
• The British Red Cross is supporting its local partner, the Palestine Red Crescent Society, to provide medical care to some of the many sick and injured. 
   
• Oxfam is delivering food parcels to people living in displacement camps. 

Find out more about how DEC charities are providing aid as the crisis evolves here.

Donations to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are making a difference even in these extraordinarily desperate circumstances. More funds can help to ensure DEC charities and their local partners are ready to scale up their response when an opportunity arises.