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Last updated 8 April 2024
Oxfam is calling for a permanent ceasefire and appealing for additional funding to scale up emergency response efforts and avert a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The Gaza–Israel conflict has stretched on for half a year. Oxfam’s latest analysis found that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and that almost all the population is now experiencing extreme hunger; with 1.1 million people experiencing catastrophic food insecurity. Horrifyingly, children are already dying from starvation and malnutrition, often worsened by disease.
Oxfam’s analysis is based on the latest available data used in the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and UNRWA data for the Gaza Strip. It found that an absolute minimum of 221 trucks of food alone are needed every day. There were just 105 trucks of food entering Gaza daily on average since January 2024. People in northern Gaza have been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day since January, as Israeli forces continue their military onslaught. The miniscule amount of food represents less than 12 percent of the recommended daily 2,100 calorie intake needed per person, calculated using demographic data considering variations by age and gender. Over 300,000 people are believed to still be trapped there, unable to leave.
Hunger and its impacts are exacerbated by the near-complete destruction of civilian infrastructure including hospitals, water and sanitation services, and community health support by Israel, leaving people even more vulnerable to disease. In addition to the limited availability of food, the ability to find or buy a nutritious, varied diet is not feasible across Gaza. For the little fruits and vegetables still available, extreme price rises due to scarcity have put them out of reach for most people. Specialized nutrition products and centers to treat malnourished children are also difficult or impossible to find.
The global response for Gaza must include both adequate and nutritious food for everyone, the full restoration of hospitals and health services, water, and sanitation infrastructure, and for all reconstruction materials to be allowed across the border. Gaza needs our help now!
Last updated 21 March 2024
The humanitarian response in Gaza remains constrained due to the continuous conflict. Oxfam is urgently addressing Gaza's severe water shortage, which has been reduced to just 7-17% of pre-crisis levels.
In collaboration with our local partners, Oxfam is working to address this crisis. We've identified 11 informal settlement sites in Khan Younis and Rafah, where a significant number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are located and where water wells are accessible. Water Mission engineers will install desalination units at these sites, ensuring proper testing, commissioning, and training for well operators.
These units are expected to operate with solar power for six hours a day, producing 6m³ of clean drinking water per day. Each desalination unit can potentially provide 1,666 individuals with 3 liters of clean drinking water, reaching a total of 10,000 people.
Through the manufacturing and installment of 11 desalination units we aim to provide more than 25,600 people with clean drinking water at a rate of 3 liters per person per day. Oxfam remains committed to ensuring the well-being of those affected by the water crisis in Gaza.
Last updated 5 Jan 2024
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains dire as the conflict enters its fourth month. Since the outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip on 7 October, over 19,667 Palestinians were killed, with women and children comprising 70% of casualties. More than 8,000 Palestinians also remain missing or buried under rubble, over 4,400 of whom are children.
The violence has displaced over 1.9 million people within Gaza since October, exacerbating already grave shortages in food, water, and electricity due to ongoing Israeli restrictions.
Despite access challenges, Oxfam and partners on the ground have reached over 72,821 people relief which included:
Cash Assistance:
- Emergency cash to 966 families (5,736 individuals) to buy food and other essentials
- Planning to distribute Non-Food-Items vouchers to 100 families (600 individuals)
Hygiene Kits:
- Distributed family hygiene kits to 2,618 families (18,115 individuals)
- Distributed 500 mother and baby kits to provide critical support to 500 families with newborns
Food Parcels:
- Distributed food parcels to 5,750 families (34,000 individuals) in informal shelters in Rafan and Khan Younis
- Distributing vegetable baskets and aim to reach 13,200 individuals who have been displaced in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis
Winterization:
- Distribution of Winterization packages to 300 families (1,800 individuals) in South Gaza
Assistive Devices:
- Distributed assistive devices to 170 individuals in South Gaza
As civilians in Gaza ring in the new year still under threat of violence, their greatest hope remains an end to hostilities. Gaza needs an immediate ceasefire to stem spiraling losses of life. Please raise your voice and join the call for a #CeasefireNOW at https://chng.it/yvbVjNyF8y.
Last updated 8 Dec 2023
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire as tensions have renewed. Following the breakdown of the latest ceasefire agreement between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups, civilians in Gaza continue to endure immense hardship. With violence threatening lives once more escalating, many families lack secure protection and access to basic necessities.
Access to Gaza, either for humanitarian workers or aid, is very limited. Despite the logistical challenges and unprecedented obstacles, Oxfam is supporting partners on the ground to address the humanitarian need of people impacted by the crisis. So far, we have reached more than 38,700 people relief which included:
- Emergency cash to more than 600 families to buy food and other essentials.
- 1,000 food kits were procured by Oxfam, hand distributed by CFTA, Al Bayader and Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) in informal shelters in Rafah and Khan Younis.
- 1,400 hygiene kits procured locally in Gaza by Oxfam are being hand-distributed by two of our local partner organizations, the Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)
- In partnership with the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC), we are currently distributing 4,750 vegetable parcels to families affected by the ongoing crisis, including internally displaced families in the South Gaza Strip.
Due in part to ongoing Israeli restrictions, clean water availability has plummeted to just 13% of pre-escalation levels. With no functioning sewage system due to lack of fuel, sewage is overflowing into streets.
Gaza needs an immediate ceasefire to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and further loss of innocent lives. Urgent action is required. Please raise your voice and join the call for a #CeasefireNOW at https://chng.it/yvbVjNyF8y.
Last updated 30 Oct 2023
The catastrophic situation in Gaza was further exacerbated by the complete cut in communication with the strip on the evening of OCT 27 amidst heavy bombardment by land, air and sea. Local telephone and internet communications were completely cut off for two days, further isolating nearly 2.2 million civilians from the outside world.
While communications are gradually being restored, access to essential supplies such as food, water and electricity remain of critical concern. Large numbers of civilians have almost no access to drinking water, food or other basic necessities for survival.
Oxfam is warning that a total siege on Gaza will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe and we call for an immediate ceasefire, by supporting #CeasefireNow, an open call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and further loss of innocent lives. It's time to act. Raise your voice and join the call for a #CeasefireNOW https://chng.it/yvbVjNyF8y
In response, Oxfam is sending its first shipment of water and sanitation equipment to Gaza, leaving its Bicester warehouse by a truck on Monday 4 December, and traveling to Brussels, before being flown to Egypt on Thursday 7 December. The five-tonne shipment contains water and sanitation supplies including bladder water tanks, tap stands, water test kits, collapsible jerry cans, and commodes to support approximately 60,000 people in Gaza. The equipment will be distributed in southern Gaza. Water bladders can be easily set up at community levels to provide 15 liters of water daily for over 10,000 people's domestic and hygiene needs.
Last updated 19 Oct 2023
As the crisis in Gaza escalates, Oxfam’s Israel and Palestine Territory office has successfully delivered essential food, water and hygiene packages to 800 households in the territory so far. However, with over 300,000 Gazans uprooted by recent airstrikes according to UN estimates, needs far exceed current capacity.
"Hospitals have been flattened, power cut off, and all medical stocks exhausted. Without immediate support, healthcare will cease to function within days, " said Bushra Kalidi, an officer of the Oxfam’s Israel and Palestine Territory office.
Coordination is key to ensuring aid is distributed equitably to families based on need. We are now appealing for additional funding to scale up emergency response efforts and avert a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Gaza needs our help now!
Last updated 12 Oct 2023
Oxfam is launching a fundraising appeal to provide humanitarian support and food, which is predicted to run out within a week. This follows the recent deadly violence in Israel and Palestine. The tightening siege has cut off all electricity, food, water and fuel to Gaza. Unless aid is let in, food is likely to run out in just seven days. Over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the conflict began, with thousands more injured.
The only source of electricity - including for hospital equipment like life-support machines - is now via generators, with dwindling fuel supplies. Essential water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged by airstrikes and access to drinking water is limited.
Innocent communities are trapped in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth, with no safe place to escape the Israeli airstrikes. Over 250,000 people have had to leave their homes, more than two-thirds are now crammed into UN schools with little access to drinking water, food or toilets. We urgently need to raise money so that our team can deliver life-saving essentials.
Before the escalation of violence, 8 out of 10 people in Gaza depended on humanitarian assistance, due to the ongoing blockade which is now in its 16th year. While Oxfam and other agencies have had to pause operations due to the ongoing airstrikes, pressure is growing for humanitarian corridors to allow access.
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Our work includes:
We will provide lives saving essentials as below:
- Clean water, food and Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance to affected vulnerable families
- Renovate water supply facility to resume their water supply and hygiene facilities.
- Mental Health support
Gaza humanitarian crisis worsens, and humanitarian aid is urgently needed.
Oxfam has been working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel for over 70 years. We are committed to providing assistance to innocent civilians!
