Donate: Middle East Humanitarian Relief

There are many organizations to which you can donate to help the victims of the current humanitarian disaster in the Middle East caused by military operations. USAID provides links to recommended organizations working in Lebanon, Israel and the West Bank/Gaza at InterAction.org. Other excellent organizations include Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International.

To learn more about the worsening shortages of food, water, sanitation, fuel, medical care and supplies, housing and other basic necessities in the region, check out this United Nations report. Excerpts on the situation in Lebanon:

The ongoing Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military operation has caused enormous damage to residential areas and key civilian infrastructure such as power plants, seaports, and fuel depots. Hundreds of bridges and virtually all road networks have been systematically destroyed leaving entire communities in the South inaccessible. This profound damage to traffic arteries will pose a key challenge to Government institutions and humanitarian agencies alike in the weeks to come, particularly in remote areas of the South.

As remaining fuel stocks are increasingly exhausted or targeted by the IDF, fuel shortages in many areas of essential public services could plunge the humanitarian situation to a new low. Skyrocketing prices for basic goods (e.g. the price of sugar has risen by 600%, and cooking gas by 400%) further deplete the coping mechanisms of the Lebanese population, particularly those of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), people under siege, the elderly, and families already living below the poverty line. Economic life has come to a complete standstill with the extreme level of destruction to the basic infrastructure posing a major obstacle to a quick recovery.

... The situation will be further compounded by the ongoing air, sea, and land blockade that is effectively preventing even basic relief supplies from entering the country.

... Approximately 800,000 people are affected by the conflict. Many of them have been internally displaced and are in need of assistance and protection or remain essentially trapped in the South. Others have become refugees and/or asylum seekers. Particularly vulnerable groups include the elderly and chronically ill – especially those confined to hospitals, women and children. Lack of access to water and sanitation, basic health care, and food are also affecting those communities under siege.