The Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has raised more than £32m in just under one month, it has confirmed.
Its appeal was launched on 17 October this year following escalating violence in Lebanon and the total so far includes a £10m donation by the government through the UK Aid Match scheme.
DEC said the money raised was helping its member charities on the ground in Lebanon and the two Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank to provide lifesaving food, water, shelter and medicine to millions of people.
Since the war between Hamas and Israel escalated following the former’s attacks on 7 October last year, more than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands displaced.
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said the humanitarian support was offering “a vital lifeline for millions of people in overwhelming need of assistance”.
Lower than amounts raised in recent DEC appeals
The £32m Middle East Humanitarian Appeal total is significantly less than the amount of money raised by DEC’s other recent appeals in the last two years.
Its Turkey-Syria appeal raised £100m in two weeks in 2023, while 2022’s Ukraine appeal raised £100m in just four days.
DEC brings together 15 major aid charities including Oxfam and British Red Cross, many of which had already set up their own fundraising campaigns prior to the launch of the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
Insiders at DEC, aid agencies and the BBC had reportedly accused the broadcaster of “blocking” a Gaza appeal for fear of getting a backlash from supporters of Israel in its war with Hamas.
Launching the appeal last month, more than a year after the 7 October attacks, a DEC spokesperson told Civil Society that its “scale”, “capacity” and “support” criteria had been met following the more recent conflict in Lebanon.
