How you can help the humanitarian effort in Gaza

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Over 15 months of war in Gaza, millions of pounds’ worth of aid has been raised for humanitarian organisations. Much of it has gone undelivered. According to a report by 15 humanitarian groups, 83 per cent of required food aid did not make it into the Strip last year.  

Sunday’s ceasefire has given Gazans “a little sparkle of hope,” says Vincent Stehli, director of operations at Action Against Hunger. The World Food Programme and World Central Kitchen are also on the ground. With rising rates of child malnutrition – over 96 per cent of Gaza’s population is facing acute food shortages – the first step is to “upscale the entry of goods, be it food, healthcare or reconstruction materials for water waste and desalination plants [responsible for providing clean drinking water]”, says Stehli.

In collaboration with World Central Kitchen, Action Against Hunger plans to distribute 4,500 food parcels in Gaza City this week. Each contains 75 per cent of the caloric needs of a whole family for a month. “However, continued reliance on food aid is unsustainable,” says Stehli, so the charity is also providing tools, seeds and fertilisers to support food production. There are still restrictions on bringing in construction materials, but Action Against Hunger intends to resume rebuilding structures such as bakeries where possible. 

Donations to provide much-needed aid in Gaza are as important as ever, if not more

An enduring ceasefire will also allow charities to provide more than just trauma care: much of the immediate focus has been on bullet, bomb and blast injuries. “MAP could expand its operations to support the challenge of infectious diseases and starvation that have spread throughout Gaza,” says Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director of programmes for Medical Aid for Palestinians, which helps build sustainable and locally-led healthcare systems on the Strip. MAP is procuring everything from painkillers to cancer medications, plus assistive devices for the newly disabled community – “almost every kind of medical supply is needed in Gaza”, says Shalltoot. The medical community faces the same challenges with the reconstruction of its hospitals, but “what is doable at this early stage is to assess the current state of health facilities and renovate the ones that can be repaired,” she says. 

Meanwhile, charities like War Child and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund will attempt to mitigate the emotional and developmental impact on children in the region. The International Board on Books for Young People is using donations from its Children in Crisis fund to reconstruct two children’s libraries and provide “bibliotherapy” in makeshift spaces, while the Witness & Memory Initiative is fundraising for materials in order to provide art therapy. 

The total reconstruction of Gaza – involving mass clearing of rubble and unexploded ordnance – is reserved for the third stage of the ceasefire, the terms of which are yet to be negotiated. “In the meantime, emergency aid and shelter such as tents remain a top priority for people returning to where their homes once stood,” says ShelterBox chief executive Sanj Srikanthan. “A third of homes are totally destroyed, and more than 90 per cent are either totally or partially destroyed.” The charity has provided 15,000 Palestinians with supplies including tents, blankets and kitchen sets, and has delivered more tents to northern Gaza in the days since the ceasefire. As it would for many charities, the reopening of the Rafah Crossing – Gaza’s only entry and exit point that does not border Israel – would allow ShelterBox to provide even more aid. 

Fundraising drives continue overseas, from major charities to grassroots organisers such as Coffees for Gaza, which has been coordinating weekly donations of $5 – the equivalent of a coffee – for displaced families on the Strip. Its latest initiative is Tabkha: Recipes from Under the Rubble (£26), the debut cookbook from Mona Zahed, a chef and mother of four who is currently displaced in a tent in the southern part of the territory. Each of her recipes – from spiced qidra rice to herby fattoush – is illustrated by a different artist, with 100 per cent of proceeds from the book directed to the author and other Coffees for Gaza families. On another culinary note, there are still tickets left for the #CookForPalestine project’s latest dinner, which sees chefs Jan Ostle and Jenan Ashi serve a Palestinian-inspired menu at London’s Carousel restaurant. Its proceeds benefit the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and refugee charity Road To Freedom.

“A humanitarian emergency is still ongoing,” says ShelterBox’s Srikanthan, emphasising that short-term provisions are still essential. Likewise, “Palestinian lives in Gaza continue to be at critical risk from illness, starvation and a lack of access to healthcare,” says MAP’s Shalltoot. “Donations to provide much-needed aid in Gaza are as important as ever, if not more.” 

Here are four more ways to give it this month:

A floral fashion collaboration supporting children in Ukraine 

Fashion photographer Nick Knight has collaborated with Ukrainian brand Litkovska on a spring-summer capsule collection themed around “Zhynyva” (harvest). Presented at Paris Fashion Week in September, the collaboration includes shirts, jackets and trousers adorned with Knight’s floral designs and the slogan “Flowers Know Better”. It will go on sale this February – marking three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – with all profits donated to children’s charity Be an Angel.

Artists unite against global youth poverty 

After raising more than £110,000 at its inaugural edition last year, the Together We Art exhibition and auction returns – this year to London’s RSA House – with all proceeds going to Life Project 4 Youth, an international alliance of organisations fighting poverty and exclusion among young people. Artists and architects including Foster + Partners’ Narinder Sagoo and Turner Prize-shortlisted Pio Abad have donated works that will be auctioned in person and online. Abad’s features his characteristically detailed line drawings, while Jemma Powell offers an expressive painting of Portofino.

Three tiramisus for three charities  

London restaurant Pastaio has invited three chefs to reinvent its signature tiramisu in January, February and March this year. Each chef has selected a charity to receive £1 from every tiramisu purchased: Denai Moore’s vegan mango and coconut version is currently benefitting Medical Aid for Palestinians, Ana Da Costa’s pandan and raspberry dessert will support World Central Kitchen in February and Nicola Lamb’s sticky banana pudding recipe will raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society throughout March.

Limited-edition photo prints fund LA’s recovery 

Following the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles, indie publisher Parallel Editions has gathered photographers to offer prints (from £124), including exclusive large-format editions, proceeds from which will be split between the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund. Images include Pia Riverola’s colourful, impressionistic photographs and Quentin de Briey’s shot of LA’s Chateau Marmont hotel, which is currently providing refuge for firefighters.