How DEC charities are providing aid as the crisis evolves

Conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives, and DEC charities and their local partners are continuing to provide lifesaving support to people in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria, as they have been doing throughout the crisis.

They continue to adapt their programmes to ensure those who need it most are supported, and are working to respond to people’s changing needs. In Gaza, many had moved back to their communities during the temporary ceasefire in January to March, but have now been forced to flee again. Access to proper shelter, sanitation, and clean water is increasingly scarce.

Gaza

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, and the devastating humanitarian crisis is deteriorating every day.

Jamil Sawalmeh is Country Director for ActionAid Palestine. He describes the conditions that his colleagues in Gaza are working under: 

"When aid is not getting in, that's where we are most needed... that's where money becomes the fine line between life and death."

During the temporary ceasefire earlier in the year, many DEC charities were able to replenish much-needed supplies such as food, medicine and essential hygiene items. These have helped to sustain their operations over the past weeks.

“The ceasefire period was very important, because we had a significant amount of supplies that have come into Gaza, which actually made it possible for people to survive for 60 days. If we did not have that ceasefire period, I don't think many people in Gaza would have lasted a couple of weeks.”

 - Jamil Sawalmeh, Country Director for ActionAid Palestine

Some communities are also still benefiting from longer-term progress made during that time, such as water system repairs and support for local farmers.

Over the course of the conflict, local partner organisations have been integral to DEC charities' response in Gaza, and their deep understanding and connection to their local communities has helped  life-saving aid reaches those who need it most. Now, DEC charities and their local partners are working tirelessly to support people in these unimaginably difficult conditions, as they have been doing throughout the crisis.

Zoe Daniels is Country Director for DEC member charity International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the occupied Palestinian territory. She explains:

“We partner with local organisations to reach the most isolated and vulnerable communities, ensuring they receive essential humanitarian aid, including healthcare and food. This collaboration allows us to continue delivering life-saving support despite the ongoing challenges.”

With the destruction of much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, the delivery of healthcare has become incredibly challenging, especially for older people. During the temporary ceasefire many moved back to their communities and were able to access support, however since it’s end many have been forced to move again.
 

“Donations are very important because they enable us to maintain the structure of humanitarian assistance. We were only able to do what we did in the past six months because of the generous donations we have received through the DEC.”

- Karim Alqassab, Age International’s Humanitarian Programme Manager for the Middle East

 During the ceasefire period, Age International's local partner in northern Gaza, Juzoor, was using DEC funds to establish community healthcare centres in the areas where older people live. They provided more than two million people last year with health and psychological services.

Majed,* 62, was receiving support for his heart condition at a Juzoor medical clinic in north Gaza. He describes the clinic as a ‘blessing’. “When we came here, they told me this is the Juzoor association. It was a great blessing that they provided us with the treatment.”

Karim adds: “Donations are very important because they enable us to maintain the structure of humanitarian assistance, so when the there is a ceasefire again, we can provide timely assistance to the people affected in Gaza”

Without any new deliveries of external supplies, DEC charities are working with local partners to rely wherever possible on the limited goods that are available from local markets, and provide vital cash assistance and psychological support. Their trained medical staff are also supporting as many people as they can, even with medicine supplies running critically low.

The response in Gaza so far

Below are some examples of how DEC charities have been supporting people in Gaza since October 2024. 

• Using DEC funds ActionAid have provided hot meals, shelter service, services, and winterisation items to more than 19,000 beneficiaries so far in the central and southern area of Gaza Strip.
   
• Action Against Hunger, with the support of DEC appeal funds, has provided lifesaving water to more than 120,000 individuals in north Gaza and Gaza City. As a result of damaged water systems, distribution through water trucking remains the only possible source of clean water in some areas.
   
• Oxfam and their local partners are providing families in the Deir al Balah and Khan Younis areas of Gaza with much-needed cash assistance. They will also be providing psychosocial support for women dealing with ongoing trauma.  
   
• The British Red Cross and their local partners are providing vital medical care to some of the many sick and injured, supporting hospitals and clinics and providing essential medicines.  
   
• Concern Worldwide and their local partners have been distributing clean water every two days in Gaza to displaced people living in camps. They are also distributing hygiene supplies, and building sanitation facilities in camps.

Lebanon

The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon at the end of last year meant some of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict could return to their communities and start to rebuild their lives. But months on, many still have no home to return to, and many more are cut off from basic services including water, electricity, and healthcare.

Upon returning to their communities, many people found their homes destroyed or areas still unsafe.
 

“When the ceasefire started, people that had been displaced returned to the areas that they're originally from to find that either they couldn't return to their homes because there were still some access and safety constraints, or because their homes were destroyed." 

 - Suzanne Takkenberg, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director for Lebanon

During the conflict, a lot of Lebanon’s public infrastructure was heavily damaged, leaving entire communities without access to essential healthcare services and clean water.

“We do a lot of in-kind distributions as well, still to those that are displaced,” says Suzanne Takkenberg, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director for Lebanon. “Everything from non-food items such as hygiene kits, baby kits, dignity kits; we do potable and drinking water distributions, both to IDPs [internally displaced people] and those still remaining in the border communities."

DEC charities and their local partners are still providing essential support including food and basic supplies, as well as hygiene kits, shelter items, and cash distributions to meet people’s urgent needs.

They are helping to repair damaged infrastructure like water systems and health facilities, supporting communities as they recover and rebuild. Training in skills such as financial literacy is allowing people to look to the future and work towards a sustainable livelihood.

Here are some more examples of how DEC charities have supported people in Lebanon:

• Oxfam has been providing people displaced outside of collective sites with vital food parcels and items in northern Lebanon.
   
• International Rescue Committee has been providing multi-purpose cash for displaced people and returnees in Bekaa, to meet their urgent and basic needs.
   
• Action Against Hunger has supplied 15,000,000 liters of water across 800 facilities and has reached over 90,000 people with support since October 2023.
   
• Plan International are providing food, and winter kits including blankets and mattresses, and reaching families with essential hygiene and baby kits.

The needs remain significant and long-term recovery will take time. Donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are enabling DEC charities to support families now and in the weeks and months ahead. Please donate now.