Struggling civilians once more face the horror of major airstrikes, with a rapidly rising death toll and hundreds of thousands of people displaced with nowhere safe to go, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Islamic Relief is appalled by recent reports of deaths and violence, and continues to strongly condemn any and all violence against civilians. We plead with all parties to exercise restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.
At least 32,975 Palestinians have been killed and more than 75,577 injured. This number is expected to increase rapidly as airstrikes continue. Nearly 50% of deaths are children.
In the Westbank, over 330 have been killed and at least 2,750 injured.
In the Gaza Strip, the 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.
There are also serious health concerns due to poor sanitation and overcrowding. Outbreaks of Hepatitis A have been reported, which is highly contagious and is just one of the growing risks of diseases that civilians in Gaza are exposed to.
To make matters worse, the healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, due to widespread destruction and damage of hospitals. Medical facilities which are in operation are extremely inadequate and overcrowded- with reports of centres holding three times as many patients as their capacities.
As conditions rapidly deteriorate amid this latest escalation in hostilities, Islamic Relief remains steadfast in our determination to assist Palestinian families. Working closely with our local partners, we are preparing our humanitarian response, which is likely to initially focus on distributing medical supplies and survival items.
We have been providing humanitarian relief in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1997, serving as a lifeline for communities struggling with the devastating effects of occupation, blockade and recurring conflict. As Palestinian families face fresh suffering in Gaza, Islamic Relief is calling on supporters to help us provide much-needed humanitarian aid.
With your support, Islamic Relief will remain a lifeline for Palestinian families. Please give generously to our Palestine Emergency Appeal now.
Since October 2023, we have provided over R236 million worth of aid. The below figures were last updated on 4th April 2024.
medical items have been distributed
families food parcels
people have received food vouchers
families have received fresh vegetable packages
ready-to-eat meals
people have received clean water
families received hygiene kits
orphan sponsorships
children have received psychosocial support
updated 6th April 2024
Israel’s “total siege” on Gaza is preventing food, medicine, fuel or other vital supplies from entering, aside from a few dozen aid trucks at the Rafah (Egypt) and Kerem Shalom border crossings.
Islamic Relief is working with NGOs such as the World Food Programme (WFP) to get aid into Gaza. Together, we have been able to remain on the ground, distributing life-saving supplies, including ready-to-eat meals, food packs, hygiene kits and blankets, to people in need directly within Gaza.
Despite the difficulties, we are able to successfully deliver aid into Gaza everyday. We are also constantly trying to get even more aid in and ensuring the most vulnerable members of Gaza’s population can receive urgent help first.
Despite the extremely difficult and dangerous situation, Islamic Relief is helping thousands of people in Gaza with vital aid including food, cash grants, water and hygiene kits, and warm materials.
Our teams are working closely with international NGOs and local partner organisations to ensure aid can enter Gaza and be distributed directly to those most in need.
We are delivering aid every day but the scale and location depend on the security situation, as the extremely heavy and indiscriminate bombing across Gaza means there is a high danger to our staff, our partners and the communities.
There are huge challenges with the current crisis. The World Food Programme (WFP) has indicated that there are some food and supplies left but these are likely to run out soon unless the small amount of aid getting in across the Rafah border crossing from Egypt can be scaled up.
UNRWA, the main UN agency providing humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza, has donated all its remaining stock of flour to bakeries across the Gaza Strip to enable them to produce bread at lower prices.
We, at Islamic Relief are also calling on the international community to ensure that adequate aid gets through the Egyptian border to help the people of Gaza. We have also been able to access some supplies to make hot meals.
Yes. We are still able to help families through our orphan sponsorship program, even in the current crisis when support is most needed and less easy to deliver.
The way we support our families is through a cash transfer onto a bank card, through IR staff visits, psychosocial support to the children, prioritising them as most vulnerable for hot meals, food parcels and other supplies, and prioritising them in other programs. In terms of other non-food items, we are providing hygiene and dignity kits, water, and sanitation facilities.
Through our partnership with the World Food Program (WFP), we are delivering emergency food supplies to Gaza. Together we cook daily hot and ready-to-eat meals for nearly 150,000 families who have fled their homes and are now living in overcrowded shelters, at risk of malnutrition and disease. Since the partnership began in early 2024, we have so far cooked and distributed over 7.5 million hot meals together.
We prioritise our orphan families in all these programs mentioned above. Where possible we are also implementing the Eid Gift Program, for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
There is a severe cash crisis, no cash has come into Gaza in 7 months, so there is a severe liquidity problem. Also, the number of functional banks is deteriorating. However, some shops are assisting by exchanging cash for the families. There is some semblance of functionality in some areas, and they are able to get cash.
Islamic Relief is using the World Food Programme (WFP) system and ATM cards for people to withdraw funds in Gaza, which is still operating in places where ATMs remain undamaged.
Each guardian has been issued with a bank card; the cash transfer happens through funds being logged onto the card. In ordinary circumstances, the funds would then be drawn and used for essentials such as medical needs, food etc. Currently, the payment system for Gaza is largely working. Transfers are going through, and the cards are working.
Currently, our local team on the ground are relatively safe and well, to the best of our knowledge. So far no Islamic Relief staff have been injured or killed, and we are doing all we can to support them at this time. Our main office in Gaza City was badly damaged by bombing – but fortunately, no staff were there at the time and no staff were harmed.
Like many people in Gaza, most of our staff have themselves had to flee their homes and are trying to keep themselves and their families safe at the same time as delivering lifesaving aid.
Islamic Relief has strict policies and processes in place to ensure that aid is used for its intended humanitarian purpose.
We fully screen all partner organisations before working with them, to make sure they are reputable. We also carry out in depth checks to ensure the quality of their work, what policies and processes they have in place to manage funds appropriately and safeguard people in the communities, and to ensure that partners subscribe to our humanitarian values.
This oversight, monitoring and quality control is done by an Islamic Relief team that is on the ground in Gaza. Our work in Gaza – as elsewhere around the world – has also been regularly audited by leading global auditors, to ensure that funds are going to people in need. Islamic Relief follows the recognised international sanction regimes such as UN Security Council.
In the current context, all civilians in Gaza are vulnerable due to the lack of food, water and medical care. Around 1.7 million people have had to flee their homes and need support.
Islamic Relief is helping as many people as we can, and our response is targeting the most vulnerable such as people who are displaced, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and civilian casualties as much as possible.
In the current context, all civilians in Gaza are vulnerable due to the lack of food, water and medical care. Around 1.7 million people have had to flee their homes and need support.
Islamic Relief is helping as many people as we can, and our response is targeting the most vulnerable such as people who are displaced, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and civilian casualties as much as possible.
Any organisation with which we partner must also adhere to an agreement covering areas such as risk management, publicity issues, child protection and terrorism.
We have committed ourselves to meeting various practice related compliance standards. The standards include those set by the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) in Australia and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) globally. We are also signatories to various commitments, including the Leave No One Behind UN Agenda and the Red Cross Code of Conduct. By committing to these standards, we are able to measure ourselves against best practice in the sector. We are also able to assure our supporters that we maintain the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and professionalism.
For the additional funds that are coming in and those we are unable to use at the moment, we are assessing opportunities to invest in long-term development programming, including rebuilding efforts.
Sustainable development programming is just as vital as providing emergency relief, so donors can be assured donations will be used to uplift communities in Gaza. Circumstances obviously do allow us to undertake any assessments in term of rebuilding.
We also coordinate closely with other international humanitarian organisations and UN agencies to make the overall humanitarian response as effective and coordinated as possible. For instance, our partnership with the World Food Programme allows our teams to distribute food items directly within Gaza, delivering ready-to-eat meals to civilians sheltering in schools without kitchens.
