Access to Aid: Urgent Action Needed to Secure an Immediate Ceasefire & Humanitarian Corridor in Gaza

Canadian leaders must take action NOW to ensure an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to Gaza.

The scenes from October 17’s bombing of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza are horrific. Over 500 are reported dead, many of whom are displaced women and children simply seeking refuge and sanctuary from the violence. This atrocity is a result of the international community’s failure to protect civilian lives.

For days, civilians in Gaza have warned that nowhere is safe and that hospitals, homes and school shelters are under attack. Their pleas have been repeatedly ignored, and the international community has stood by as bombs rain down on innocent people and international laws are violated.

Send an email now to your local representative. Our government has a duty to uphold international humanitarian law and must not turn its back on vulnerable civilians.

Send Urgent Relief to Gaza

The people of Palestine are fleeing for their lives as they experience continuing airstrikes in Gaza, and dangerous escalations of violence. These attacks have injured over 11,000 people and killed 3,300 Palestinians, of which over 1,000 are children, further displacing 1 million people.

After suffering decades of violence and human rights violations, Palestinians continue to feel unsafe in their own country. The total siege on Gaza has severed all power and water supplies, as well as blocked new food and fuel from entering the region. This is forcing health facilities to operate partially due to severe shortages of essential medical supplies and fuel, and causing water to run out at UN shelters across Gaza.

Islamic Relief is committed to responding and working with local partners to provide emergency medical assistance to nearby hospitals and urgent food support to displaced families. While our distributions will temporarily pause due to the current dire situation and huge safety concerns, your donations will reach their destination. We remain committed to continuing our vital work as soon as it is safe to do so. 

How is Islamic Relief delivering aid into Gaza?

Islamic Relief has been on the ground, operating in Palestine since 1997. We have offices with staff and volunteers who have been distributing all emergency food and medical supplies they had previously stockpiled or could additionally procure, every day since the escalations began.

Working alongside local partners in Gaza, our team has distributed:

⛑️ 1.6 million medical supplies

💵 1,100 food vouchers

📦 600 food packs

🍴 200 ready-to-eat meals

🛏️ 50 mattresses and 50 blankets

However, while we have disaster preparedness plans in place for escalations like this — the destruction is too great. And our resources are running low.

Islamic Relief teams in Palestine and their families are facing huge safety concerns, suffering from the loss of their homes and loved ones. Our priority for now is their safety above all else. As a result our distributions are slowly coming to a halt until it is safe to resume again.

With that in mind – your donation will still reach its destination. We will continue our work as soon as it’s safe to do so, alongside local partners in Gaza that have extensive experience in delivering aid in the region.

Islamic Relief is urgently calling for a humanitarian corridor to be put in place so that vital aid can be delivered safely to civilians.

Islamic Relief condemns violence against Palestinians 

Islamic Relief is calling for a lasting solution and an end to the Israeli occupation. We strongly condemn all attacks and violence against civilians, and the sheer injustice at the heart of the matter, and are calling for an immediate end to the current escalations.

More Israeli bombing has been reported in Gaza following airstrikes since October 7 which have killed at least 3,300 people and impacted over 1 million. More than 22,600 housing units, 10 health facilities and 48 schools have sustained damage, preventing Palestinians from receiving urgent medical care and forcing 175,486 displaced people to take shelter in UNRWA schools.

The situation in Palestine

The people of Palestine are no stranger to devastation. Ongoing violence and restrictions have severely impacted access to food, water, and healthcare in Palestine, leaving over 1.3 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

For people across Palestine, life is incredibly challenging:

- 80% of the population are dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive (European Union, 2023) 

- 65% of Palestinians in Gaza live below the poverty line (UN, 2022) 

- 9 out of 10 children in Gaza suffer from some form of conflict-related trauma (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 2021) 

- 7 out of 10 households are food insecure (OCHA 2021)

How your donations are making a difference to the people of Palestine

Islamic Relief has been working in Palestine since 1997, reaching 530,000 individuals to date. Our work in Gaza is focused on both emergency relief and development support, ensuring sustainable long-term programs that are transformative for the communities involved.

Through your Palestine donations, our team is able to:

- Distribute emergency food packs and facilitate access to clean drinking water

- Create sustainable livelihood opportunities for 755 farmer families by planting olive trees and providing essential tools for cultivation and irrigation

- Rehabilitate damaged hospitals and supply them with equipment, essential drugs and capacity-building support

- Enroll children in recreational therapy and psychosocial services

Your support for Gaza is helping our teams to deliver vital medical, food, water, and psychosocial support to Palestinians in need.

How does Islamic Relief ensure transparency and accountability in its operations?

Islamic Relief has strict policies and processes in place to ensure that aid is used for its intended humanitarian purpose. We conduct in-depth investigations to ensure optimal quality of work, appropriate policies and processes to manage funds and safeguard people in communities, and ensure that partners share our core humanitarian values.

This oversight, monitoring and quality control is conducted by an Islamic Relief team that is on the ground in Gaza. Our work in Gaza – as elsewhere around the world – has also been regularly audited by leading global auditors to ensure that funds are going to the most vulnerable people in need.