GAZA UPDATE

The humanitarian situation remains critical across every sector. Three years of war, and a ceasefire that has not ended the violence, have left the following picture.

Health

• Not one of Gaza’s 37 hospitals is fully functioning, 47% are completely shut down, and fewer than 5% of health services are running
• 18,500 critically ill patients, including 4,000 children, need evacuation for treatment. Only 1,664 were evacuated in the first half of 2026
• More than 43,000 people are living with life-changing injuries, including over 5,000 amputations, and 1 in 5 children under three have missed vaccinations

Food and water

• 1 in 20 families go entire days without eating, and 17% eat only once a day
• 246,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer malnutrition in 2026
• Only 4% of cropland can be farmed, 72% of the fishing fleet has been destroyed, and 66% of households burn waste to cook because there is no cooking gas
• 89% of water and sanitation infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, with all six sewage treatment plants offline

Shelter and displacement

• At least 1.9 million people are still displaced. 65% of Gaza is off-limits, confining almost the entire population to 35% of the territory
• 76% of homes are damaged or destroyed, 957,000 people are in unwinterized shelters in flood-risk zones as winter approaches, and 850,000 still need emergency shelter items
• Female-headed households have doubled to 86,000, close to 1 in 4 families

Education

• 93% of schools are damaged or destroyed and more than 637,000 children have no regular, in-person education
• Classes now hold 70 to 80 students, pens, paper and books are still blocked from entering Gaza, and children may have lost up to five years of schooling

Islamic Relief continues to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza through its local partners and ongoing emergency programming. Despite significant access and operational challenges, our teams and partners continue to support vulnerable and displaced families across several sectors, including food security, health, education, and child protection.

This includes:

• Food assistance: Hot cooked meals have been provided to displaced families. Most recently, hot meals consisting of rice and meat were provided to displaced households in a shelter in Gaza City.
• Education: Classes are being provided to displaced students, along with training for teachers.
• Psychosocial support: Psychosocial support activities are being provided to children and vulnerable individuals to help address the emotional and psychological impacts of the ongoing crisis.
• Orphan support: 25,310 children are currently sponsored through Islamic Relief’s orphan program, supporting 20,753 households. 11,874 of them are sponsored by Islamic Relief Canada donors.

Islamic Relief continues to explore opportunities to expand food assistance and other life-saving activities as access and operational conditions allow.

Based on our assessments, the most urgent needs in Gaza are:

• Access to clean drinking water
• Food assistance for displaced families
• Psychosocial support, especially for children who have endured significant trauma
• Temporary shelter for those whose homes has been destroyed
• Medical care for the injured and vulnerable populations

Here’s how we are responding:

• Maintaining a presence through our Gaza-based staff, who continue to work at great personal risk.
• Working closely with international and local partners, including the World Food Program and UN humanitarian organizations, to navigate border and logistics challenges and bring in critical supplies.
• Advocating for sustained humanitarian access and protection for civilians and aid workers at national and international levels, starting with consulting Canadian politicians and spearheading conferences.
• Providing emergency health services, and cash assistance wherever access is possible. Our cash transfer program continues to reach orphan families in Gaza on a quarterly basis.

Islamic Relief is presently active in Gaza City, Khan Younis (Mawasi) and Deir Al Balah, including Zawayda and Nuseirat. Coverage changes with access and safety.

Our emergency response efforts are conducted in collaboration with the World Food Program and six local partners across the Gaza Strip. Each partner is assigned an Islamic Relief staff member to oversee project implementation.

Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world to deliver aid: at least 595 humanitarian workers have been killed, 98% of them Palestinian. Our staff have been displaced multiple times, many have lost their homes and loved ones, and our Gaza City office has been destroyed. They are searching for food and shelter for their own families, and still they deliver aid every day.

As a global family, Islamic Relief Canada has provided nearly $86 million CAD in emergency programming in Gaza as of January 2026, since the escalations began in October 2023. The money is transferred to our implementing partner Islamic Relief Worldwide in the United Kingdom, which is then transferred to Islamic Relief staff in Gaza through local partners.

Our staff in Gaza are using your donations to locally procure food, hygiene supplies, bedding, and any other essential item we can source. They screen and contract local suppliers and partners, who procure either locally or through private trading routes between Gaza and Egypt. With the level of our procurement, donations are routed through wire transfers to their Palestinian bank accounts.

Sponsorship funds are transferred through the World Food Program to an e-wallet set up for each orphan family, and topped up quarterly. Families redeem the funds at local grocery stores or exchange service providers. 94.3% of sponsorship funds up to June 2025 were successfully redeemed, and for 99.7% of sponsored families in Gaza this is their main source of support.

Humanitarian needs remain urgent, with hundreds of thousands displaced in tents and in critical condition. For this reason, our ongoing work on the ground is focused on emergency relief, including the distribution of hot meals and hygiene items, as well as providing access to clean water and medical aid.

We are committed to supporting our Palestinian brothers and sisters to rebuild in a sustainable manner. Our long-term development plan includes:

• Repair: We are looking to repair and rehabilitate vital infrastructure including community centres, homes, schools, and hospitals.
• Shelter: Providing families with transitional shelters while their homes are rebuilt, as well as kitchen sets and solar powered energy systems.
• Livelihood: Creating paid employment opportunities for skilled and non-skilled workers who have lost their livelihoods, including hiring labourers to help remove rubble and employing Gazans in the health and agriculture sectors.
• Education: Supporting children to kickstart their education by providing educational kits and school bags, as well as providing schools with furniture and equipment.
• Medical: Strengthening healthcare systems by providing medical supplies and other support to improve the quality and accessibility of medical services, especially for women, children, elderly people, and people with disabilities.