Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charities “hopeful” they can increase aid in Gaza following ceasefire, with generous UK donations already making a difference

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charities are hopeful that the ceasefire in Gaza – which began this morning – will provide them and their local partners with a critical opportunity to scale up their work delivering urgently needed food, shelter, water and medical care.  

The DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal launched in October and has so far raised more than £39 million. Donations are already making a difference to people across Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria, but more funds are needed to meet the overwhelming levels of humanitarian need in Gaza right now. With a ceasefire in place, DEC member charities who are responding there hope to rapidly scale up their operations as much as restrictions allow. 

After more than a year of devastating conflict, the ceasefire provides some respite for the millions of people in Gaza who are now enduring an unbearably harsh winter. For the hostages and their families in Israel, it offers hope of reunion, after months of suffering and grief.  

In Gaza, 1.8 million people are facing acute shortages of food, with soaring prices at local markets as supplies have become increasingly scarce. Cold weather and rain in recent weeks have further worsened conditions in camps, with tents flooding and cold temperatures causing sickness amid a dire shortage of medical care and widespread malnutrition.  

New aid access routes and the opportunity to use existing routes more widely because of the ceasefire would allow DEC charities and their local partners to increase the amount of food and other urgent aid they can deliver into Gaza, reaching more families in need.

Some bakeries, hospitals and other essential facilities that were forced to close during the conflict are expected to reopen, and with fewer restrictions on movement within the Gaza strip, lifesaving services such as water trucking and medical care can be expanded.  

Member charities have already been providing vital winter support including warm bedding and clothes, clean drinking water and fresh food. They have been constantly adapting their response to cope with limited deliveries of aid and focusing on support that does not rely on external supplies, such as cash vouchers to help people cope with spiralling prices, emergency medical care and psychosocial services including mental health support for children.  

Donations to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal will continue to enable them to reach more families with the support they need, as the people of Gaza take the first steps to returning to their homes and communities,  and looking towards an uncertain future. 

Here are some examples of aid already being provided by DEC member charities and their local partners in Gaza, thanks to donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal:  

• ActionAid's local partner in Gaza have been providing food baskets and fresh vegetables, which are in very short supply at local markets.  
   
• 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.  
   
• Action Against Hunger and their local partners are providing water trucking, to reach people with urgently needed clean water. 
   
• Concern Worldwide and their local partners are providing essential hygiene supplies, as well as building and improving sanitation facilities in camps. 

Saleh Saeed, Chief Executive of the DEC, said:  

“After so many months of suffering caused by this conflict, we hope this ceasefire can provide some relief to millions of people whose lives have been devastated.  DEC member charities and their local partners are hopeful it will provide them with a vital chance to scale up their programmes in Gaza and reach many more people in need. People are living in unbearably harsh conditions without access to the basic supplies they need to survive. The generous donations by the UK public to the Middle East Humanitarian appeal have already enabled our member charities and their local partners to reach some of the most vulnerable with support, and with increased aid access they could do so much more. Please donate now.”

Riham Jafari, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said:  

“Now that a ceasefire has been announced, more aid must be allowed into Gaza immediately. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. In the coming days our colleagues and partners in Gaza will be scaling up their vital work distributing essentials to those in need, as well as providing psychosocial and other support.”  

People can donate online: dec.org.uk.

• £10 could provide blankets for two people  
• £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week 
• £100 could provide emergency shelter for five families    

For more information on the appeal, please visit the DEC website.

Stay up to date with the appeal with the DEC on X or on Facebook.  

Notes to editors  

Media enquiries please call 07930 999 014 or 07890 839 270 (out of hours).  
Interview requests: For spokespeople, pictures and b-roll please contact: sgard@dec.org.uk

About the DEC: The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of crisis overseas to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help, and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response.  

All 15 of the DEC’s members are either responding or planning to respond in the Middle East and will receive funds from this appeal. Some may work through trusted local partners.  

They are Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.  

DEC member charities are committed to the principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity and independence – it guides all of the lifesaving work we do. As humanitarian aid agencies, we have an obligation to give aid wherever it is needed, prioritising the most urgent needs of the most vulnerable people.  

The majority of funds from this appeal will be spent in Gaza and Lebanon, where millions of people are displaced and desperately need humanitarian support. Some of the funds will be used to support people in Syria, where hundreds of thousands have fled from Lebanon since September, and in the West Bank, where the recent escalation in violence has forced many to flee their homes, and had a devastating economic impact.  

For the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, £10 million of donations from the UK public have now been matched by UK Aid Match.

Through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.  

UK Aid Match enquiries should be directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Please call 020 7023 0600 (24-hour).  

How to donate: 
 
Online: dec.org.uk  

Phone: 0330 123 0333 [Standard network charges apply] Text to give/SMS: for press releases: text SUPPORT to 70676 to donate £10. Other partners should use the specific text keywords they have been provided with by the DEC. [Texts cost £10 plus your standard network rate]  

Send a cheque by post to: DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA