Since 7th October 2023, 46,707 Palestinians have been killed, and over 109,000 have been wounded. Nearly 70% of those killed are women and children. Approximately 1.9 million people in Gaza have been displaced multiple times, with widespread destruction of civilian property and infrastructure. Gaza’s water and sanitation systems have been severely damaged, leaving 97% of water unfit for human consumption.

Muslim Hands has been active in Gaza since 2007 and throughout the last 15 months of bombardment and hostilities. With the support of UN partners, including the World Food Program (WFP), nearly five million meals have been provided through a combination of hot cooked meals and food parcels. This effort has offered a lifeline to some of Gaza’s most vulnerable populations, including women, children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

Currently, Muslim Hands is working to establish three desalination plants at UN schools in Gaza. This large-scale £690,000 project, set to be completed within the next few months, will provide 30,000 people with a reliable daily supply of safe water. Unfortunately, the harsh winter weather has introduced new challenges, including the tragic loss of some babies to the cold. As part of the ongoing winter appeal, shelter and £500,000 worth of warm clothing are being distributed to 20,000 children.

Muslim Hands extends its deepest gratitude to supporters, whose donations—totaling nearly £9 million—have provided essential relief across multiple areas.

The journey to healing and rebuilding Gaza has only just begun. For many, the war has not only meant brutal bombing and violence but also the denial of basic rights, such as access to food, clean water, and medical care. The risk of famine and mass starvation remains a grave threat, with an estimated 2.2 million people facing acute food insecurity and receiving, on average, just three liters of water per person per day—far below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended minimum.

With the ceasefire now in place, 600 truckloads of vital aid are expected to enter Gaza daily, with half directed to the north, where the need is greatest. As part of the rebuilding process, Muslim Hands will continue providing hot meals and food parcels through its partner, the World Food Program, including throughout the holy month of Ramadan. This effort will help feed over a million people in the next three months. Donations will also support the provision of clean water and wheat flour to bakeries in Gaza, ensuring thousands of loaves of bread reach the most vulnerable.

Yasrab Shah, Muslim Hands Fundraising Director, stated: “We welcome the ceasefire and pray for lasting peace for the people of Gaza as they begin to rebuild their lives after 15 horrific months of pain and loss. We remain committed to facilitating our donors’ incredible generosity, which provides ongoing support to those in need. With our UN partners, our efforts on the ground will continue. We urge our supporters to keep donating—your contributions are a lifeline and, for many, the difference between life and death.”

Source: Muslim Hands Charity

The endorsement comes as the 2024 race between Harris and Trump remains very tight ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Arab American and Muslim voters may play a decisive role in the outcome in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and other battleground states. These voters helped President Joe Biden defeat Trump in 2020 by thousands of votes.

Many Muslim groups, including Emgage Action, have criticized the Biden administration, where Harris serves as vice president, for its support of Israel’s war in Gaza. Harris has urged an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, saying she supports Israel’s right to defend itself as well as the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

“While we do not agree with all of Harris’ policies, particularly on the war on Gaza, we are approaching this election with both pragmatism and conviction,” Emgage CEO Wa’el Alzayat said in a statement, adding it sought to provide “honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box.”

Emgage Action, which endorsed Biden in 2020, said it mobilized 1 million Muslim voters in that election. The group said the Harris endorsement reflects a “responsibility to defeat Trump and defend the community against what would be a return to Islamophobic and other harmful policies.”

Trump’s campaign had no immediate comment. His campaign has held dozens of events with Arab Americans and Muslims in swing states and plans another event this weekend in Michigan, Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, said last week.

Trump has said he will reinstate the “travel ban” that restricts entry into the United States of people from a list of largely Muslim-dominant countries. Biden rolled back the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.

The Harris campaign welcomed the endorsement a week after another big voting bloc, the pro-Palestinian grassroots organization Uncommitted National Movement, said it would not endorse Harris, Trump or a third-party candidate.

Harris has already won the backing of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus.

The U.S., Israel’s biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound (900-kg) bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June.

The war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s military has leveled swaths of Gaza, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Source: Reuters

The widespread demonstrations are aimed at urging a cease-fire in Gaza, with participants converging in various cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Canterbury, Oxford, and Hastings.

“With Israel’s catastrophic onslaught ongoing, we must continue to take action to demand a cease-fire now, and an end to British complicity in Israel’s apartheid rule over the Palestinian people,” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said in a statement.

Addressing the protesters in Camden, Sabby Sagall, the president of the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said Israel has intensified its attacks on Gaza. Pointing out Israel’s history of ethnic cleansing since 1947, Sagall praised the International Criminal Court’s application against Israel, submitted by South Africa, and described it as the most positive step taken during this process.

Also, a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine was held in Germany’s capital Berlin on Saturday.

Nearly 1,500 protesters gathered at Mehringplatz Square and marched to Potsdamer Platz in the center of Berlin, conveying messages of support to Palestine as well as protesting Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency