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.