Middle East
Humanitarian Appeal
Middle East
Humanitarian Appeal
Conflict in the Middle East is devastating lives. Millions of people across 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 - almost the entire population of Gaza - do not have enough to eat
1.9 million
people displaced in Gaza, and another one million in Lebanon
UK Aid Match
The UK Government will match pound-for-pound up to £10 million donated by the public to this appeal
15 DEC charities
are providing critical aid in the region, despite the challenges of the past year
DEC charities have been providing lifesaving aid in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank over the past year, but they now urgently need more funds.
In Gaza, people are dying of hunger and disease, as well as injuries caused by the conflict. Food and clean water are desperately scarce. Ninety percent of the population are displaced, and more than 42,000 people have been killed.
In Lebanon, more than a million people have had to leave their homes in recent weeks. Shelters are overwhelmed, and hospitals are struggling to treat the thousands of people injured.
DEC charities are ready to do more, and respond across the region, wherever the needs are greatest. But they urgently need more funds.
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 and the West Bank
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.
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
How and where DEC charities are responding
The conflict has affected millions across the region. DEC charities have been delivering life-saving aid in Gaza despite extraordinary challenges.
They are also scaling up their responses right now in Lebanon, and working in the West Bank, where many are experiencing violence and displacement.
Read more about where our charities are responding and how.
Appeal News
The latest news from the situation in the Middle East.
Jump to
Riz Ahmed, Joe Alwyn and Ruth Negga support the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal
28 October 2024
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 thousands of children in Gaza and Lebanon denied an education as UK pupils enjoy half-term break
24 October 2024
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.
Cholera returns to Lebanon as DEC members deliver water and sanitation aid
19 October 2024
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.
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.
