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The conflict in the Middle East is taking a devastating toll on the lives of innocent people.
As the conflict in Gaza continues, a new disaster is unfolding in Lebanon. Air strikes and a ground invasion are heaping misery on a country already enduring multiple crises. In excess of a thousand people have been killed in Lebanon. Homes, hospitals and schools have been destroyed. More than a million people have fled their homes in search of safety. It’s a painful reality that echoes the suffering we’ve witnessed in Gaza.
While the death, destruction, and displacement in the region are overwhelming, there is still hope. The combined efforts of supporters of DEC charities can help to provide lifesaving supplies to civilians caught up in this conflict.
Every prayer, every gift, every action brings hope to people hit by crisis.
What's happening in the Middle East?
In the space of a year, civilians have seen death and destruction on a scale of vast proportions.
More than 43,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, many of those children. With homes and infrastructure flattened, nearly 2 million people have been displaced, forced to face extreme hunger and disease in overcrowded shelters. We're now seeing that trend of death, destruction and displacement in Lebanon too.
It's unbearable. With violence now threatening to grow, no one feels safe. This war is devastating and utterly heartbreaking.
We wake up every day to the sound of bombs and rockets, with no safe place to seek refuge...This violent war has taken our homes, schools, families, relatives, friends and classmates.
How are Christian Aid responding?
Our established partners in Gaza and Lebanon are responding as best they can, under intense pressure, with medical relief and food, shelter, sanitation and cash.
Our response in Lebanon
Our partner Najdeh is supporting people who fled airstrikes in southern Lebanon that have since arrived at mainly southern affected camps including Ein El Helweh Camp in Saida and El Burj El Shemali and El Buss in Trye and surrounding areas, by providing mattresses, blankets, food parcels and other essentials.
Najdeh also runs a community centre in the camp, attended by around 500 children. At the centre children can take part in sports and art classes as well as access counselling within the centre’s children’s support groups.
Christian Aid will also support emergency medical services and primary health centres at risk of being overwhelmed by the numbers injured.
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Emergency and psychological care
Palestinian Medical Relief Societies (PMRS) are on the frontlines, providing emergency first aid, community outreach and follow-up care for those injured across the Gaza strip.
Their mobile teams offer psychological care and medical support–reaching patients by any means necessary, including by bicycle and on foot (due to fuel shortages). This includes treating people at home, who've been discharged from overcrowded hospitals, to dress their injuries.
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Shelter and essential aid for displaced families
Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA) in Khan Younis has provided emergency food, shelter, water sanitation and hygiene, and essential supplies for the many thousands who are homeless.
With markets still in operation in Gaza, CFTA has provided two rounds of cash grants to more than 300 household from Christian Aid funds.
They also offer emotional support through art workshops, where children can momentarily escape the horrors of war and express their resilience by drawing memories of their homeland.
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Food distribution and community-led relief
The Agricultural Development Association (PARC) coordinate emergency food from local suppliers/farmers in Gaza to those who cannot purchase food. Their work is critical now that food lifelines have been cut off.
They support community-led initiatives, including informal shelters, and have set up a medical clinic in Al Mawasi, treating about 700 patients daily. With support from Christian Aid, they’ve also built bathroom units and established a ‘disability friendly’ displacement camp for 100 families
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Our partners are deeply rooted in their communities and have therefore been the first responders to this crisis. Our locally-led approach has meant that people have been supported to help themselves, in the absence of a ceasefire and sufficient aid.
How your donations help
How your donations helps Every donation helps us meet the escalating needs of people fighting for their very survival.
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£10
or €12 could provide blankets for two people to keep them warm.
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£50
or €60 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.
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£100
or €120 could provide emergency shelter for five families.
With conflict escalating across the Middle East, and the humanitarian situation worsens, we’ll direct our resources to send support to where it’s needed most.
Pray for a just peace
God, hear our prayers for peace in the Middle East.
May all people in the region be protected, safe from harm.
We pray that this crisis will end now, with no further loss of life.
God, may the injured and distressed know your healing presence.
May the powerful and the decision-makers follow the paths of justice, mercy and peace.
We pray for recognition of the dignity and value of every life.
May the clamour of violence cease,
Replaced by the beating of swords into ploughshares.
God, in your name,
Amen
Together, we must do all we can to protect the lives of our global neighbours. They need us right now, more than ever.
