Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory: a catastrophic humanitarian crisis
Civilians continue to pay the highest price in this ongoing conflict. In Gaza, the situation is catastrophic. Men, women and children are facing the threat of starvation, and the health system has all but collapsed. In Israel and beyond, families are desperate to receive news of their loved ones still being held hostage and for them to be released.
The UN reports that since 7 October over 37,000 have been killed and over 85,000 injured in Gaza, with over 500 killed and over 5,200 injured in the West Bank. Over 1,200 have been also been killed and more than 5,400 injured in Israel.
We’re seeing human suffering on an unprecedented level:
- People are facing the threat of starvation. The amount of aid currently able to pass into Gaza is nowhere near enough. Lives are hanging in the balance.
- Families have nowhere to go. Over 75% of the population in Gaza has been displaced, many have had to move multiple times. Hundreds and thousands of people are living in overcrowded, dire conditions and fearing for their safety.
- There’s a spiralling health crisis. Very few healthcare facilities are functioning in Gaza. Those that are, desperately need vital medical supplies and fuel to cope with the staggering level of need.
- Over 100 people are still being held hostage in Gaza. Families have endured months of emotional turmoil, and many have had no news of their loved ones.
Red Cross and Red Crescent teams are working tirelessly to help alleviate suffering wherever we can. In the last few weeks a new field hospital in Rafah has been opened, providing vital healthcare, including to dozens of people injured in airstrikes. We will keep giving life-saving relief to people experiencing the horrors of this conflict in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel for as long as we're needed. But we can’t do this without your support.
It is urgent, dangerous work – the best way for you to help is by donating to our Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory Appeal
What is the Red Cross and Red Crescent doing to help people in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel?
Since the start of this conflict, staff and volunteers across the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have been on the ground, risking – and losing – their lives to provide far-reaching humanitarian and medical care to those in need. Life-saving work that is powered by donations made to this appeal.
Across Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is the leading provider of emergency medical services. Supported by the wider movement, they have:
In Gaza
- reached over 1.5m people with food parcels, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses, safe water storage items, kitchen kits and other basic essentials
- supported over 220,000 people with health services
- provided psychosocial support to almost 80,000 people
- processed over 21,500 trucks of humanitarian aid for distribution in Gaza
- reached almost 19,000 people via emergency medical services
- established 14 camps for internally displaced people
In the West Bank
- responded to over 4,000 injuries
- distributed food parcels to 7,140 families comprising 42,840 people
In Israel, Magen David Adom (MDA) provides the only national blood and medical emergency service. Their relief work includes:
- mobilising 1,500 ambulances and 10,000 first responders
- conducted trauma first aid training sessions attended by 60,000 people
- collected, tested, and processed over 118,000 units of blood
- treated over 4,000 patients
- provided over 600 litres of substitute milk for infants
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is providing humanitarian assistance where required to all those affected by the conflict. Work that includes:
- opened a 60-bed field hospital in Rafah, with capacity to provide medical care for 200 people a day, including emergency surgical, obstetric, maternal, and paediatric care
- deployed two surgical teams to the field hospital, who have performed over 7,300 consultations and more than 200 surgical procedures
- performed over 3,000 surgical procedures at the European Gaza Hospital. Alongside providing 1,500 emotional support sessions at the hospital and over 3,000 early physical rehabilitation sessions
- advocating on behalf of the hostages still held in Gaza - requesting information, working to gain access to them and demanding their unconditional release
- calling to be allowed to visit Palestinians in Israeli detention and for Palestinian detainees to be treated humanely and be permitted to communicate with family
- visited over 400 detainees and has interacted with over 980 released detainees to gather information on their treatment and conditions of detention
- received over 8,000 requests from family members seeking to clarify the situations of their loved ones
- supported the delivery of stress management training to frontline health workers
- provided meals, drinking water, tents, mattresses, and medical care in Rafah
- provided essential items to more than 1 million internally displaced people in Gaza and helped more than 1 million people access clean water
- reduced the risk of communicable diseases to 1.4m in Rafah by maintaining generators at essential water and wastewater treatment facilities
- provided one cooked meal a day to 25,000 vulnerable people in Gaza, as well as ready-to-eat food parcels to 10,000 people and high nutritional food bars to almost 200,000 people
- supplied over 800 metric tonnes of medical supplies to eight health facilities, allowing 30,000 people to receive emergency medical care
- assisted 14 hospitals with emergency power supplies
- helped gain safe access for ambulances treating the injured
- provided over 1,000 litres of IV fluid to emergency health facilities
- given emergency cash assistance to 40,000 vulnerable people in Gaza
- facilitating the release of 109 hostages and 154 Palestinian detainees in Israeli places of detention during the pause in fighting last year
The Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) is working with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to transport aid into Gaza and support where they can, including:
- delivered more than 20,000 aid trucks to Gaza via the Rafah crossing
- carried out more than 2,500 medical evacuations from Gaza to Egypt
- supported the provision of two shelter camps hosting 5,600 people near Rafah
- supported people through 61 service points in Rafah, providing psychosocial support as well as food, water, hygiene kits and other essentials
How you can help people in Gaza and Israel
People are being forced to cope in ways no human should have to endure. Our Red Cross and Red Crescent teams are on the ground responding right now, but the humanitarian needs are immense and growing by the day. If you are in the UK, the best and quickest way to help support people in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel affected is to donate to this appeal. These donations enable us to respond quickly and help wherever the need is greatest.
Donate to the Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory Appeal
The importance of neutrality and impartiality
We are a humanitarian charity that stands for neutrality and impartiality in times of crisis – these principles are the beating heart of every single action we take. Our neutrality is what allows us to access communities, gain trust and work behind the scenes to get help where it’s needed most. As a humanitarian charity, we are not here to take sides. We are not here to measure one life against another. We are here to relieve suffering – and we will continue to do all we can.