FAQs on the Gaza War
and Anera's Humanitarian Response

Anera is currently maintaining tekias (community kitchens) in Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah – locating them in areas where displaced families are taking shelter. Each kitchen is staffed with multiple chefs and helpers who make large pots of filling, hot meals. Each pot contains enough food to serve 300. People come to our tekias with pots, buckets, or receptacles they have at hand, to be filled with food. At times, we also have flour and yeast for making fresh bread.

We operate these kitchens whenever possible but they are not necessarily open every day. Here are the coordinates for our active tekias (current as of January 2, 2025):

• Deir Al Balah tekia (Abu Assad area, off Akkela street; near مستشفى شهداء الاقصى and سوبر ماركت ابو هدبة)
• Sanabel tekia in Khan Younis (Mawasi, شارع الرشيد بجوار نادي الوكالة & ساند بيتش)

Field Health Clinics (current as of October 22, 2024):

• Deir Al Balah
  • Qarara West area mother and child health clinic (Shams Shelter)
  • Deir Al Balah City mother and child health clinic (Abu Samra Shelter)
  • Zawayda mother and child health clinic (Unlimited Friends)
  • Deir Al Balah north wound management clinic (North of Deir Al Balah City; Khalid Bin Walid Street, next to Faisal tower, Al Masdar camp | شمال مدينة دير البلح شارع خالد بن الوليد بجوار برج فيصل مركز إيواء أرض المصدر)
• Khan Younis wound management and noncommunicable disease clinics (Mawasi, on the road leading to Al Attar Station, west of Bir Zannon and Al Sha’ar water well - beside Al Somod camp | خانيونس-المواصي- الشارع المؤدي لمحطة العطار- غرب بئر زنون والشاعر)

Since October 7, Anera’s team in Gaza has delivered many millions of humanitarian relief items. Anera does this principally in two ways: using cash donations to procure goods locally from known and trusted vendors; and receiving items donated from other partners and donors who arrange to get those goods trucked into Gaza.

Some of these goods trucked in are designated to go directly to Anera, while other goods are brought in by and/or delivered to other organizations and agencies, such as UN agencies, who then partner with Anera to deliver them “the last mile” to the intended beneficiaries. In either case, Anera packages (or cooks) and delivers that aid to those who need it most.

To make this happen, Anera’s teams in Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Cairo, Amman and the US work together and with the appropriate parties, such as governments, military-civilian coordinators, logistics companies, and humanitarian actors, including some 50 other partners, to coordinate the necessary arrangements. It is not easy, and we are not getting either the quantities or speed needed, but our team knows how to work to get things moving towards our target outcomes.

The amount of aid currently entering Gaza is not consistent and certainly not nearly enough to meet the needs of this humanitarian catastrophe. We encourage you to share our call for more aid to be allowed in.

With the ongoing crisis exacerbating hunger and thirst, especially as Ramadan approaches, your contribution can provide crucial relief. Anera, with its long-standing presence and experience in Gaza, is distributing food parcels and managing community kitchens to ensure families have access to nutritious meals, particularly during Ramadan. Your donation can provide a hot meal to displaced families in Gaza, serving as their only source of sustenance to start and break their fasts. Your generosity is instrumental in supporting Anera's relief efforts and offering hope for a better future for Palestinians in Gaza.

As the war continues, the humanitarian needs are immense and growing. There is a great need for medicines and medical supplies, shelter, food, water, hygiene items and other humanitarian essentials for the more than three-quarters of Gaza residents who've been displaced. People are in temporary shelters, extended family members' homes, tents, and even sleeping exposed on the streets.

Anera is delivering hot meals, food parcels, water, hygiene kits, tents, tarps, blankets and mattresses. We are also coordinating field health clinic days with free medical supplies, psychosocial activities for children, and distributions of vouchers for winter clothing.

In coordination with other humanitarian actors, and in consultation with our local partners, our Palestinian staff determine which needs are most pressing and we act quickly through our network to fill them.

Anera has worked in Palestine for 56 years. Our staff there work out of four offices and many distribution centers. They have built deep connections with local community organizations, healthcare centers, co-operatives and schools to pinpoint and respond to the immediate and ongoing needs of vulnerable communities in Palestine. 

Anera has brought in more than 1,300 truckloads of humanitarian aid since the start of the war in October, including food, hygiene supplies, shelter supplies, clothes and more. Our teams in the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan have been supplying a steady pipeline of shipments. In the earlier months of the war, our Gaza staff were able to purchase food and hygiene items within Gaza itself from trusted, vetted vendors. See our response log for specifics on what we deliver.

We will also use funds for longer term relief and development projects.

In the earlier months of the war, Anera purchased items from trusted vendors who had stocks and supplies available from before the war. We had agreements with these vendors from previous distributions. The stocks were not free, but Anera had the immediate funds to buy them. 

Our interventions distribute food and other relief items equitably to shelters around Gaza. 

Anera has 13 staff working in Gaza. They all come from the communities they serve, so they are able to quickly identify areas of need and respond immediately as funds become available.

Our Anera team of staff works with some 450 volunteers, personnel from local organizations, vendors and suppliers on the ground.

Despite the trauma they’ve endured, they remain focused and energized, delivering aid, running clinics, and finding ways to rebuild. Their optimism, dedication and ability to get things done are nothing short of heroic. It’s important, though, that we not romanticize their resilience. No one should have to endure what the people of Gaza are living through. The international community must do more to open crossings, increase aid flows, address the root causes of this tragedy, and to build back better.

The truth is, no one is really safe in Gaza right now. All of Anera’s staff have been displaced from their homes and are staying in shelters with little food, water or electricity. Despite the very difficult circumstances, however, they are doing everything they can to deliver aid to their fellow Gazans. Their work is nothing short of heroic.

When emergencies occur, coordination is vital. The UN leads coordinating “clusters” covering areas such as health, food security, protection, water and sanitation, and shelter to ensure that there are few gaps and overlaps in the assistance delivered by humanitarian organizations. Anera is an active participant in the UN clusters, responding accordingly and within our mandate.

When you use the Gaza emergency response link to donate, the funds you give go directly to Anera’s response to the catastrophe befalling Gaza. When you give through the general donate link, you are making an unrestricted donation in support of Anera’s work across all three countries.

While we appreciate the thoughtfulness that caring people invest in these collection efforts, for the most part we cannot accept these kinds of donations from individuals. Instead, we encourage people to donate. This is for multiple reasons:

Volume. Anera typically sends 20- and 40-foot containers of donated medicines and relief supplies to the Middle East. This is by far the most cost-effective way to send donated goods as a container can fit an enormous volume of materials and many of our wonderful in-kind donors cover the cost of shipping.

Storage. Some organizations and individuals have asked us if we can include supplies from them in one of the containers we are already planning to ship. Unfortunately, the answer is still no. Anera does not maintain U.S.-based warehouse space. The containers we send to the Middle East are shipped directly from the warehouses of our medical donation partners. For safety and quality control reasons, these donors will not allow Anera to add donations to their carefully inspected and professionally packed containers.

Speed and Expense. It is a much slower process to bring goods in from abroad rather than to purchase them locally. To do so, Anera would need to get the customs export and import documentation in order; arrange for and cover the cost of shipping; get the items approved through local authorities (which takes 6 weeks at a minimum); pay for the costs of clearance, storage, demurrage, and transportation to our local warehouse; receive and inventory them in the warehouse; and then finally distribute them. All told, this can cost us upwards of $20,000. With funds in hand, staff can immediately and specifically respond to the needs on the ground as they arise. This approach has the added benefit of supporting the local economy.

Anera does accept in-kind donations from established organizations, such as Americares, Direct Relief, Lutheran World Relief, and United Methodist Committee on Relief. These are organizations whose business is to send in-kind donations – from medicines and supplies to hygiene kits and baby care items – to the communities that need them most. Having done this work for decades, they have an effective and well-tested set of processes designed to respond specifically to the needs Anera communicates to them through our on-the-ground staff. Read more about our in-kind work in Gaza.

The extent and reach of our response depend on the amount of donations Anera receives. The best way for you to help people in Gaza is to spread the word about what is happening there and how Anera is addressing their needs. Forward our emails, share our Facebook, Instagram, website postings and our X posts, and/or pass along our newsletters and mail appeals. More people need to be made aware of what Anera is, why we can be trusted, and how we are making a difference. As one of our supporters, you are the best and most credible Anera advocate in your community of friends, family and colleagues.

Typically, most medicines Anera delivers are donated by reputable organizations, not purchased. In emergency situations, however, purchasing can be the quickest way to get the medicines to where they are urgently needed. We go to vetted pharmaceutical manufacturers in the area to make those purchases and to support the local Palestinian economy.

Anera is well known in Palestine, where our programs have had a big impact on people’s lives. In order to maintain our very low fundraising and overhead expenses, we have historically limited our advertising and marketing expenditures. Anera depends mainly on dedicated supporters to spread the word about our impact and efficiency.

Please forward our emails, share our Facebook, Instagram, website postings and our X posts, and/or pass along our newsletters and mail appeals. More people need to be aware of what Anera is, why we can be trusted, and how we are making a difference. As one of our supporters, you are the best and most credible Anera advocate in your community of friends, family and colleagues.

Anera’s policy is to supply assistance to only legitimate and capable institutions and to comply with U.S. laws. We filter individuals and agencies against computerized lists of terrorist organizations cited by the U.S. Treasury Department on its Office of Foreign Assets Control list. Because Hamas is designated as a “terrorist group” by the U.S. State Department, Anera does not work or even coordinate with them.

Anera’s local staff evaluates our partners and assesses accountability, management, technical capacity, community outreach, etc. Through this process we determine if the institution is capable and eligible to receive Anera’s help.

When a project is completed, detailed financial and program evaluation reports are generated. Robust monitoring and evaluation systems are used and are regularly upgraded. In this manner, Anera continually evaluates projects from a fiscal and impact standpoint.

Anera is audited annually by independent auditors like Price Waterhouse (see our most recent audit) and we follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, which are standard financial guidelines for most non-governmental organizations. This measures many of the benefits and the success of each program. Read our accountability statement.

In our registration in 1968 with the Israeli government, Anera is restricted to serving the Palestinian people. Anera operates in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.

Anera does not provide aid directly to individuals. Instead, we work through trusted local partner organizations to deliver our programs. 

We do sometimes post information about activities on our Arabic Instagram and Facebook channels. Please follow us!

We currently do not accept volunteers. If you’d like to get involved and support Anera, please consider other ways to help: https://www.anera.org/how-to-help/

If jobs become available, they will be posted on our website with specific instructions on how to apply: anera.org/who-we-are/join-our-team/

 Please contact Steve Fake at [email protected] for media inquiries.

Anera delivers humanitarian relief activities through our distribution centers/points,  and community kitchens in Khan Younis, Deir Al Balah and Gaza City (see the yellow zones on the below map). We also operate health clinics in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis.

Initially we were able to deliver aid throughout Gaza, but the areas where Gaza residents are able to live now have shrunken to just those three locations 

Yes! Your donation to our emergency fund goes directly to the humanitarian aid we distribute to civilians in Gaza. Thanks to our donors, we have successfully delivered nearly 60 million meals — as well as hygiene kits, medical aid, clothing vouchers and shelter supplies. Donor support has also enabled us to provide psychosocial activities for children, conduct classes in temporary learning spaces, and run health clinics for displaced families. 

See our daily response log to learn more specifics.

In the first weeks of the war, we were able to purchase and distribute items from vetted local vendors. Since resources are now largely depleted internally, we are working tirelessly to get aid from the West Bank, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan into Gaza . This includes food, medical aid, hygiene items and shelter supplies. 

Anera works with many partner organizations to bring in relief supplies, including World Central Kitchen, the World Food Program, UNICEF, HEAL Palestine, Americares, Direct Relief and more. 

No, Anera does not handle this kind of transaction. Instead, Anera uses any funds we receive on delivering programs that provide humanitarian aid or services.

Check Western Union or Bank of Palestine for sending money.

No, unfortunately, Anera does not evacuate people and we are unable to recommend other organizations that do.