“There is no place safe in Gaza. Every place is targeted.”
Dr Lubna Sabah, Director of Health, Near East Council of Churches
(NECC)

The population in Gaza is experiencing a humanitarian disaster. They are facing devastating loss and overwhelming need.

Our emergency appeal is for the vital work undertaken by our partners and colleagues in Gaza and the West Bank.

In Gaza, nowhere is safe.
Over 35,000 people have been killed, 15,000 of them are children and over 78,000 have been injured. It is estimated that over 10,000 people are missing under the rubble. 1.7 million people have been displaced — many, numerous times, while the population is being systematically denied access to food, water, fuel and medical care.

As the Israeli forces begin their assault on Rafah, communities in the southern tip of Gaza are facing an even greater humanitarian disaster with the potential for far greater loss of life, a complete breakdown in the supply of essential aid and the few remaining medical facilities to become overwhelmed.

Since 7th October 2023, 474 Palestinians, including 116 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and approximately 5,000 have been injured.

During this period, UN OCHA recorded over 800 settler attacks. Over 8,000 Palestinians have been arrested and over 3,500 are currently being held on administrative detention without charge. In addition, 1,765 Palestinians, 43% of whom are children, have been displaced after their homes have been destroyed.  

On the 17th of October 2023, we heard the appalling news of the strike on our partner, Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City which left hundreds dead. It re-opened the next day to treat patients.

The hospital has continued to operate despite further substantial damage and being massively overcrowded. Other medical facilities, such as Shifa Hospital, were destroyed, while others have been forced to close. The hospital faces ongoing staffing shortages and a critical lack of medical supplies, fuel and food.

Together with our partner NECC, they have also been running emergency health clinics in Rafah and therapeutic psychosocial support programmes for mothers and their children.

The Gaza Sunbirds para-cycling team has continued throughout the attacks to deliver vital food supplies to their communities, and We Are Not Numbers has been hiring as many writers as possible to document events and to provide them with an income at a time when prices have spiralled.

As a result of your donations, we have been able to provide essential support to all these projects.

We have also been able to work with the Welfare Association to provide food parcels to displaced communities in the South of Gaza and with MAAN Development to provide food to communities in the North of Gaza and toilets for those sheltering in tents in the South who have had one toilet for every 940 people.

Since 7th October 2023, 474 Palestinians, including 116 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and approximately 5,000 have been injured. 

Our partners on the West Bank are also facing a huge increase in the needs in their communities. We have been able to support them in providing food parcels for those in the Bethlehem area who have lost their income and supporting building projects and vital community projects in both the Bethlehem area and the South Hebron Hills.

However, so much more needs to be done. So, we continue to ask that we all give what we can. As you support our appeal, please also join us in calling for:

• an immediate ceasefire, 
• the end of the assault on Rafah
• unrestricted access to vital humanitarian support, 
• an embargo on arms sales to Israel
• the release of all hostages, and 
• demand that the UK government ensure that all parties are held accountable under international law.

Thank you.