A new projected analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) states over a million people in Lebanon are “expected to face food insecurity” at crisis levels or worse between April and August.

The figure marks a “significant deterioration” compared with the outlook before the latest escalation.

The statement says: “Acute food insecurity is likely to deepen without sustained and timely humanitarian and livelihood support”

Since the latest escalation of the conflict, DEC charities and their local partners have been working tirelessly to reach people impacted by the crisis across Lebanon.

The BBC has reported today that the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon has been extended by three weeks, after it was set to expire on Sunday.

The extension agreement means some families can continue to return to their communities.

However, the humanitarian situation in Lebanon remains devastating, and many families still have nowhere to go after being displaced multiple times.  

Thanks to your donations, DEC charities and their local partners are able to continue working tirelessly to reach people impacted by the crisis.

Chief executive of the DEC Saleh Saeed OBE was interviewed yesterday by Sky News.

Speaking to Yalda Hakim, Saleh described the worsening humanitarian situation in Lebanon and how DEC charities are supporting people in as the crisis evolves. 

🗣️ "Not only do they lose their homes, food prices have gone up."

Chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee Saleh Saeed OBE describes the worsening humanitarian situation in Lebanon.

🌍 https://t.co/7a7VLMWT2m pic.twitter.com/sWYZjFA6cN

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 25, 2026

The Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has now raised over £65 million thanks to the amazing generosity of the UK public. £5.5m was raised in Scotland, £4m in Wales, and £1.8m in Northern Ireland.

Appeal funds are helping DEC charities and their local partners to reach people impacted by escalation of the conflict in Lebanon. 

Since the beginning of March, more than 800,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

DEC charities and their local partners are working tirelessly to reach people across Lebanon as the humanitarian crisis deteriorates again, while continuing to support those affected by the conflict escalation in 2024.

During the first 12 months of the DEC response in Lebanon:

• Over 16,000 people were supported with cash assistance, giving them the flexibility to prioritise what they need most.
• More than 15,000 people were provided with improved access to clean drinking water.
• Over 24,000 people were supported with improved access to key hygiene services, such as showers, bathrooms and washing machines.
• More than 31,500 people received food food baskets containing key essentials, and 8,500 more received ready to eat or hot food.
• Over 77,000 people received essential items like clothes, blankets, tents and hygiene kits.
• More than 148,000 people received mental health and psychosocial support and protection services, such as access to safe spaces and wellbeing support for children and caregivers.

As the needs remain huge, learn more about the situation and how DEC charities and their local partners are supporting people in Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank below.

Thanks to incredibly generous donations from the UK public to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, the DEC has now matched £3 million of funding from the UK Government as part of its UK Aid Match scheme. 

To mark the milestone, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa met with representatives from DEC charities in London. 

Aid workers from across the membership, both in person and on the ground in Gaza, updated Mr Falconer on the many ways your donations are supporting people.

The appeal has now raised more than £55 million since its launch in October 2024, with the UK Government matching £13 million of donations through its UK Aid Match scheme since launch.

In Gaza, people's needs remain huge, but despite the many challenges they have faced over the last year, DEC charities are working still around the clock. 

Over the past year, they have delivered cash assistance, medical care, food, clean water, essential supplies and so much more. Now we can see Malnutrition rates are finally decreasing, and goods are available again in local markets, however more help is still desperately needed.

Between October 2024 and October 2025: 

• Over 573,000 people received hot meals or food baskets of essential goods. 
• More than 434,000 people received improved access to safe drinking water through water trucking, the rehabilitation of water systems, and support around shelter sites.
• Over 345,000 people were reached through support to healthcare facilities, including the rehabilitation of health centres and the delivery of essential medical supplies, as well as primary healthcare services.
• More than 28,000 people received cash or voucher support, giving families the flexibility to buy what they urgently needed, including food, medicine, clothes, and other essentials.
• Over 118,000 people were supported with access to sanitation services, such as clean water, repaired or newly built latrines, and hand-washing stations. 
• More than 18,000 people in temporary shelters were provided sanitation kits.

This work took place during periods of ceasefire and conflict, as well as a blockade on aid entering Gaza.

Winter has arrived in Gaza. Families living in tent camps have been hit with heavy rain and lowering temperatures, risking the spread of disease. 

The United Nations said 800,000 Palestinians were affected by the flooding, which occurred after Storm Byron hit last week.

ITV report flood waters have already ruined many families' dwindling possessions and supplies, as the insides of their tents were soaked through.

Currently very pound donated by the to the DEC’s Middle East Humanitarian Appeal will be matched by the UK Government through its UK Aid Match scheme, up to a further £3 million. 

Please donate today to support people in Gaza this winter. 

The UK Government has announced it is matching donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Middle East Humanitarian Appeal up to a further £3 million, to help DEC charities support vulnerable families in the Middle East this winter.  

In Gaza, where the majority of funds from the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are being spent, recent heavy rain has caused flooding that has inundated tents and destroyed people’s belongings. A dire shortage of shelter and essential items means children are facing cold nighttime temperatures without warm clothes or blankets.  

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

“The situation in Gaza remains critical, with winter weather taking conditions from bad to worse. Innocent families are facing icy winds and biting rain, forced to live in exposed conditions. We must act now to get vital winter aid to those that need it.”

The Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has now raised over £55 million thanks to the amazing generosity of the UK public.

Appeal funds are helping DEC charities and their local partners to reach people impacted by conflict across Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria with urgently needed humanitarian support.  
 
The DEC is renewing its appeal for donations to help meet the overwhelming needs in Gaza following the ceasefire agreement. As people look towards an uncertain future, your support can be a lifeline.

Find out more about how DEC charities are responding in Gaza, Lebanon, The West Bank and Syria below. 
 

Their Majesties The King and Queen are among those who have generously donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Middle East Humanitarian Appeal since the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.  

It is Their Majesties’ third donation to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.

Saleh Saeed, Chief Executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee, said:  

“It has been heartening to see generous donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal since the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and we are grateful to Their Majesties The King and Queen for their ongoing support of the DEC and our appeals.  

Sky News have amplified the DEC's renewed call for donations amid the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. 

The article highlights how DEC charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in Gaza since the agreement took effect last week.

Emphasising that £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.

Donate now. Save Lives.

The Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan announced today a £250,000 donation to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.

The government had previously donated £100,000 in October 2024, followed by another £100,000 in January 2025.

Thanks to the generous donation, the appeal has now raised over £3.1 million total in Wales.

Huw Owen of DEC Scotland writes for Scottish publication The Scotsman, looking at the opportunities presented by the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

He describes the ceasefire as a time for the DEC’s 15 members charities and their indefatigable local partners to "take stock, restock and revitalise their operations for a monumental task ahead". 

The DEC's Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has raised £4.4m in Scotland. 

ITV have reported a major humanitarian relief effort is set to begin on Sunday after United Nations officials say the green light has been been given to begin delivering aid into Gaza.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said: 

“We must seize this moment with collective will, determination and generosity."

Find out more about what the ceasefire agreements means for DEC charities here.

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza presents a critical opportunity for DEC charities and their local partners to scale up their work again, after months of extraordinary challenges delivering aid.

Saleh Saeed, Chief Executive of the DEC, said:    

“The ceasefire agreement in Gaza marks a fragile but vital moment of hope.  

As DEC charities and their local partner organisations prepare to scale their work back up, donations are urgently needed to support the monumental task ahead. Sustained access for humanitarian aid is critical to end the famine and save lives." 

The Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has now raised over £50 million thanks to the amazing generosity of the UK public.

The majority of appeal funds spent so far have supported programmes in Gaza, where the catastrophic humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate. 

Donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are helping to provide emergency medical care for the many sick and injured, clean water, cash assistance and more.

Despite severe challenges delivering aid, DEC charities and their dedicated local partners are doing everything they can to continue providing some support in these unimaginable conditions.

The report covers the first six months of the response and explains how DEC member charities and their local partners have responded to the Middle East crisis using funds raised by the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal. 

The report provides an overview and examples of what DEC funds have achieved working across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria during six months of the response.

Famine has been confirmed in Gaza for the first time. The global hunger monitor, the IPC, says that famine is now taking place across Gaza City and the surrounding areas, where more than 500,000 people are currently living. 

They are warning it is set to spread further by the end of September unless food supplies are urgently increased.

The announcement marks only the 5th time in more than 20 years that the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system has been used to confirm famine. 

Gaza City and the surrounding areas have reached IPC Phase 5, which means more than 30% of children are acutely malnourished, and people are dying every day from hunger related causes. 

In this explainer, Sky News repot on how The United Nations has today condemned airdrops on Gaza, warning they risk killing the starving Palestinians they are intended to help.

As reported in the article, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for UNRWA, has said airdrops "will not reverse the deepening starvation" and often do more harm than good.

Adding that: "They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians" in a statement posted on social media. 

Reuters have reported the world's top authority on food crises, the IPC, warned that the Gaza Strip is already facing a worst-case famine scenario, predicting "widespread deaths" unless immediate action is taken.

Whilst famine has not been announced, the IPC said: "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," 

DEC charities are working to make the most of temporary pauses in the conflict to deliver more aid, and are working to use this moment to do whatever they can and reach as many people as possible with support.

Rachel Cummings, Humanitarian Director for DEC charity Save The Children spoke to the BBC on Monday about the situation in Gaza. 

Speaking from an office in Deir al-Balah, she told the BBC how at a clinic yesterday, every child there was malnourished. Adding that every adult - including her own team - are "desperately thin".

Staff from DEC charities and their families are dealing with unimaginably harsh conditions and facing significant risks as they carry out their life-saving work, but are still working to make the most of temporary pauses in the conflict to deliver more aid. 

More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza.

The statement includes: “Just outside Gaza, in warehouses – and even within Gaza itself – tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them,”

The group of charities includes DEC members Action Against Hunger, CAFOD, CARE International, Christian Aid, Save The Children, Islamic Relief, International Rescue Committee, Plan International, and World Vision.

Over £47 million has been raised for the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, as DEC charities continue to work however they can to address the ever changing needs.

In the past weeks, a surge in mass casualty incidents linked to new aid distribution sites has overwhelmed Gaza’s 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 water trucking and medical care. 

One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza are malnourished, the agency has said.

UNICEF said on Monday that more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza last month, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition.

With extremely limited supplies entering Gaza, DEC charities and their local partners are working tirelessly to meet some basic needs in the ways they are still able to.  

In a statement released this week, the UN has warned:

'The fuel crisis in Gaza has reached a critical point. What little fuel remains is already being used to power the most essential operations but those supplies are running out fast'. 

The international branch of DEC member charity Red Cross, the ICRC, has issued a similar warning, saying earlier this week: 

'The few medical facilities that continue to function, including the Red Cross Field Hospital, are running dangerously low on essential supplies, including fuel'. 

The UN statement said the fuel powering vital functions in Gaza, including water desalination stations and hospitals’ intensive care units, is running out quickly, with 'virtually no additional accessible stocks left'.

The extraordinary challenges around aid delivery in Gaza are having a devastating impact on the work of DEC member charities and their local partners.

Right now, even in these dire circumstances, they are still finding ways to provide support. 

Each day brings new and unexpected challenges, and they are constantly adapting their operations to deliver whatever aid they can - as they have done throughout the crisis.

Find out more here.

Recently DEC CEO Saleh Saeed travelled to Lebanon, visiting DEC funded projects supporting people affected by the conflict. 

Islamic Relief Lebanon are working to support people in the South of the country, where many families returned to their communities to find their homes destroyed. 

Huge numbers of people remain displaced and ongoing airstrikes continue to cause destruction and displacement.

Food distributions provide essential items such as chickpeas, cooking oil and flour to families in need during Phase 2 of the DEC response. 

BBC News have reported The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) have today released a report analysing food security in Gaza from April 1 - May 10 2025.

In the report, the IPC stated that 1.95 million people, or 93% of the population of Gaza, are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, including 244,000 experiencing the most severe levels. 

Throughout this period, DEC charities and their local partners have continued to work tirelessly to support people in these unimaginably difficult conditions, as they have been doing throughout the crisis. 

According to reports from Reuters, mots of the 170 community kitchens in Gaza have now shut after running out of necessary stock to continue their work. This follows a similar announcement from US based charity World Central Kitchen a few days previously. 

Without any deliveries of external supplies, DEC charities are now working with local partners to rely wherever possible on the limited goods that are available from local markets. 

This is already the longest period that aid has not been allowed into Gaza since the conflict escalated in October 2023. The UN has described it as “the worst humanitarian situation” since the crisis began. 
 

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 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.  

UK donations to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are enabling DEC charities and their local partners to begin adapting  and expanding their programmes to provide vital aid to some of the many families on the move.  

Over 90 percent of homes are estimated to have been destroyed or damaged across Gaza, as well as a huge amount of essential infrastructure. More than 2 million people need urgent humanitarian aid, with dire shortages of food and clean water across the Gaza strip.  

The ceasefire provides some hope and relief to the millions of people whose lives have been devastated in so many ways by conflict. 

For DEC member charities it is a critical opportunity to scale up their work to deliver vital food, shelter, water and medical care to those in need.

After more than a year of devastating conflict, it also provides some respite for the people of Gaza, who have been enduring an unimaginably harsh winter. More than 2 million people need urgent humanitarian aid, with dire shortages of food and clean water across the Gaza strip.   

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.

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.”

Thousands of displaced Lebanese citizens are returning to their homes a s a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah began on Wednesday, as reported by ITV News. 

The ceasefire means many of those displaced can return to their communities. But after months of living in crowded shelters, and with so many homes and essential facilities destroyed, humanitarian support remains critical to meet people's most urgent needs.

Many families have nowhere to return to.

The DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has reached £30 million. Your donations are helping to:

• Provide hot meals, dry goods and food baskets of produce, as well as support for community kitchens feeding the displaced. 
   
• Distribute clean drinking water and hygiene kits to improve sanitation in camps and shelters. 
   
• Support field hospitals and medical clinics in Gaza with equipment and medical staff to treat the many sick and injured. 

These are just some of the ways DEC member charities have been providing people with a lifeline of support over the past year, and they will continue to adapt their responses as the humanitarian situation develops across the region. 

Your donations enable them to greatly increase the number of people they can reach.

Actors Bilal Hasna and Maisie Richardson-Sellers and content creator Shabaz Ali have lent their support to the appeal, and applauded the incredible dedication of local aid workers in Gaza.  

In a new video posted to the DEC’s social media channels, they hear the powerful stories of a teacher, a doctor and a humanitarian aid worker, who are all working with the DEC’s member charities and their local partner organisations. 

Saeed, an Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, said: 

"Every day we speak to people who mourn their loved ones, mothers who worry their children won't survive the next night because of illness, and children who have stopped speaking because what they have endured has left them withdrawn and shattered. At the same time, us aid workers are also deeply affected by this war.”

The video highlights the extreme levels of humanitarian need facing people across Gaza, Lebanon and the wider Middle East region – with millions having fled their homes in search of safety and many more in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care. 

Hundreds of schools have been turned into emergency shelters for people whose homes have been destroyed or conflict has meant they have had to leave their properties.

In Gaza, children are now unable to go to school for the second school year in a row, with 45,000 unable to start school for the first time.  

Only 15,000 children are being supported by temporary learning spaces that have been set up by humanitarian agencies but this is a small fraction of what is needed for the 625,000 pupils in Gaza who have already missed up to a full school year since the conflict began. It has been reported that 378 school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit over the past year. 

In Lebanon, well over two thirds - 77% - of public schools have been converted to collective shelters or are otherwise disrupted. This has led to a delay in the start of the academic term from October 14 to November 4 for the lucky ones whose schools remain open. 

DEC member agencies are helping to prevent a cholera outbreak in Lebanon, after the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the first case in the country for many months.

Aid workers are warning that the disease could spread rapidly, given over a million people have been recently displaced by conflict. Many are now living in temporary shelters in cramped conditions in schools, public buildings and even tents in the street, without proper facilities. The UN says there are already reports of scabies and lice spreading among children living in shelters.  

In 2022, Lebanon saw its first cholera outbreak for 30 years, which spread exponentially, affecting thousands of people and killing 23. Given the conditions and numbers currently displaced, agencies fear a new outbreak could be even more severe.  

DEC member charities are working to prevent further spread, providing clean water, hygiene kits and sanitation assistance. 

The news comes as experts warn of 'catastrophic' hunger in Gaza, with famine a real danger. 

A new food security forecast released by the global food monitor the IPC on 17th October show the risk of famine in Gaza persists, with the number of people facing ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger expected to nearly triple between November 2024 and April 2025. 

From now until August 2025, it is estimated that there will be 60,000 cases of malnutrition in children between six months and five years-old. Deaths from malnutrition have been reported in Gaza for several months now.  

A new food security forecast released by the global food monitor the IPC on 17th October show the risk of famine in Gaza persists, with the number of people facing ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger expected to nearly triple between November 2024 and April 2025. 

From now until August 2025, it is estimated that there will be 60,000 cases of malnutrition in children between six months and five years-old. Deaths from malnutrition have been reported in Gaza for several months now.  

Madara Hettiarachchi Director of Programmes and Accountability, at the DEC, said: 

“Despite the many challenges, our member charities have been responding throughout the past year to treat and prevent malnutrition in children, and provide food and nutritional support to people in Gaza. But as winter approaches the need is growing, and we urgently need more funds. The risk of famine is real. Without humanitarian access and support, hunger in Gaza will only increase.”  

“The risk of famine is real. Without humanitarian access and support, hunger in Gaza will only increase.”  

Within 24 hours of the launch the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Middle East Humanitarian appeal has raised £8.8 million.

DEC nationwide television and radio broadcast appeals were broadcast live on BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 5 featuring artists Adjoa Andoh, David Morrissey, Myleene Klass and Ruth Wilson. 

This total includes generous donations from the UK public, DEC corporate partners and longstanding supporters. Donations to this appeal from the UK public are still being matched pound for pound by the UK government, as part of its aid match scheme.  

To mark the launch of the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, the DEC hosted an online press conference. Speakers at the conference included: 

In the UK: Saleh Saeed, CEO, Disasters Emergency Committee & Madara Hettiarachchi, Director of Programmes and Accountability, Disasters Emergency Committee

Just back from Gaza: Rachael Cummings, Humanitarian Director, Save the Children. Recently returned from Gaza, speaking from the UK

In Lebanon: Gheith Bittar, Executive Director of SHIFT, ActionAid’s local partner in Lebanon  

In the West Bank: Rasha Bakeer, Director of Partnerships and International Cooperation for Palestine Red Crescent Society. 

The Disasters Emergency Committee has launched the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.

DEC CEO Saleh Saeed said: “DEC member charities are responding right now in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, providing lifesaving food, water, shelter and medicine – this humanitarian support is a vital lifeline for millions of people in overwhelming need of assistance.”

The UK Government will match the first £10million of donations from the British public to the DEC’s Middle East Humanitarian Appeal to provide vital humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict.