UK charities launch urgent appeal for victims of Mideast conflict

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – Britain’s Disasters Emergency Committee has initiated a major fundraising effort to support people suffering due to ongoing conflicts across the Middle East, press reports said on Thursday.

The committee, representing 15 of the UK’s top aid charities, emphasized the "overwhelming" need for food, shelter, and medical care for displaced people across Gaza, Lebanon, and beyond, according to the BBC.

In response to the crisis, the UK government has pledged to match public donations up to £10 million (over $13 million).

The BBC quoted Saleh Saeed, the committee's chief executive, as saying, “We urgently need more funds to meet the huge levels of need," highlighting the dire conditions in places like Gaza and Lebanon, where shelters and hospitals are struggling to cope.

Save the Children's Rachael Cummings, recently returned from Gaza, warned of deteriorating health conditions, especially among children.

The campaign will be promoted across major UK broadcasters, including the BBC and Sky.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has dramatically escalated its massive bombing campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

More than 42,400 people, most of them women and children, have been killed since the war began in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel.

Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1.