Grassroots fundraisers who have been keeping Palestinian families in Gaza alive for the past two years say donations have collapsed catastrophically since the so-called ceasefire was announced in October — even though life on the ground has only grown harsher.
Across Gaza, where families are still living in torn tents, scavenging for food, and battling disease and hunger, Palestinians say the world has mistaken the word “ceasefire” for an end to suffering. For them, nothing could be further from the truth.
“People think Palestinians are fine now. We’re not. We’re barely surviving.”
Megan Hall, an Australia-based organiser who manages 95 mutual-aid funds for displaced families in Gaza, has raised over $200,000 since February 2024. She says donations began slowing in September — but once the ceasefire took effect, they crashed.
During the height of Israel’s bombardment, Hall could reliably send about $5,000 a week to families struggling to stay alive. But in October, across nearly 100 campaigns, she raised barely $2,000.
“The drop in donations is catastrophic,” she said.
“It feels like once the world heard the word ‘ceasefire’, they assumed Palestinians no longer needed help. But mutual aid is the only thing that has kept families alive for two years.”
Winter, she warns, will be unforgiving for families who have already lost everything — shelters, clothing, heaters, even the ability to find clean water.
Four other organisers told The Guardian the same story: donations across their Gaza campaigns have fallen off a cliff.
Meanwhile, aid organisations are seeing the same collapse
The Gaza Soup Kitchen — which has served 10,000 meals a day in the Strip — saw donations on GoFundMe drop 51% in just one month.
Other major organisations are reporting similar patterns:
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Oxfam GB: decline in Gaza-related donations
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Save the Children UK: donations from social media down by one-third
Aid groups say this is happening even though Israel still blocks most of Gaza’s crossings, allowing only a fraction of the food and essentials needed to prevent starvation.
OCHA spokespersons say Gaza remains shattered:
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70% of the population is exposed to winter storms with no infrastructure
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Farmlands and livestock are destroyed
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The healthcare system is in ruins
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Families have been displaced so many times that “their coping mechanisms are now zero”
“The ceasefire only stopped some of the bombs,” one UN official said. “It didn’t magically rebuild homes, feed families, or restore Gaza. Most of the Strip is still in complete destruction.”
‘If I don’t pay rent, we will sleep on the streets’
For families relying on mutual aid, the decline feels like a death sentence.
Ahmed al-Deeb, 28, from Gaza City, says his entire family of 14 — including his sick two-year-old niece — depends on one such fund to survive. The fund once raised nearly $3,000 a month. In October, donations fell to just $300. In November, only $150 so far.
With no money and winter approaching, Deeb was forced to leave the tent he was renting in Deir al-Balah and return to Gaza City to search for a bombed apartment. He found one — but the landlord wants $400 a month.
“I cannot describe how bad it is,” he said. “If I don’t pay, the landlord will evict me. We will have nowhere to go.”
His family now lives mostly on lentils and pasta. He hasn’t received official aid in eight months.
Many Palestinians report the same: donations down, need skyrocketing, aid inaccessible.
Why is the world donating less?
Fundraisers point to several reasons:
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The illusion of relief: people think Palestinians are safe now
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Exhaustion and financial strain after two years of giving
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Economic crises in donor countries
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Social-media suppression of Palestinian content, making fundraisers invisible
Megan Hall says even volunteers are running out of resources.
She has begun selling her furniture to pay one family’s rent.
Meanwhile, Gaza faces another brutal winter
Two million Palestinians are bracing for freezing nights in tents, ruined homes, and flooded streets. For people like al-Deeb, the stakes are painfully simple:
“If we lose this apartment, we will sleep outside. Winter is here. We won’t survive that.”
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