Yesterday, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin (Blessings to all) Foundation, or RLAF, posted on Facebook that it collected a total of $8,114,422 in donations for their Humanitarian Relief for Gaza campaign.
The campaign, which ran from 19 October to 17 November 2023, aimed to raise funds to provide aid to those in Gaza in the form of health, relief, and shelter for communities affected there.
The funds raised in this campaign is the highest sum raised by the RLAF as of now.
The sum has since been dispensed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
RLAF has been monitoring and collaborating with its partners on updates about the delivery of aid to the beneficiaries in Gaza.
This included a video call in which the foundation’s partners provided updates and responded to questions by various donors and donor organisations.
Mr Masagos, who is also Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said that RLAF will hold another round of fund-raising for Gaza, slated to take place from 20 March to 26 March this year.
“This new fund-raising campaign aims to rally Singaporeans to continue to donate as the situation in Gaza has become more dire,” he said.
More than $300,000 Raised in Two Days by Humanity Matters
In a separate fund-raiser, more than $300,000 has been raised to support humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
On 8 March, non-profit Humanity Matters started a new donation drive, raising money that will go towards delivering medical supplies, food, and care packages for civilians in Gaza.
The fund-raiser will continue to run until 30 April.
Humanity Matters chairman Ong Keng Yong said the donations exemplified the spirit of compassion and solidarity of Singaporeans for civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict there.
The money raised so far will help to immediately fund the next batch of relief supplies that Humanity Matters is sending to Gaza, and kick-start further fund-raising, he added.
In the coming week, Humanity Matters will dispatch four tonnes of relief cargo, comprising 5,000 Kidz Comfort Packs (worth $100,000), which were packed on 9 March by more than 300 young people and volunteers.
Each pack contains a backpack, inflatable pillow, vitamin gummies, water bottles, a stress ball, a stuffed toy and snacks.
Last November, Humanity Matters also delivered over S$215,000 worth of medical supplies and other relief items to organisations in Cairo to help civilians in Gaza.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas orchestrated a series of attacks on Israeli communities, and it was the deadliest attack Israel had experienced since the state was established in 1948.
In the attack, an estimated 1,200 were killed and about 30,000 were displaced.
Once the Israeli military cleared Hamas militants from its territory, they embarked on an extensive serial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, followed by a large-scale ground invasion on 27 October.
A humanitarian crisis has developed in the Gaza Strip. Healthcare is in a state of collapse, there is a shortage of food, clean water, medicine, and fuel, electricity and communications are blacking out, and more.
Tens of thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, and stores in Gaza have been destroyed.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israel’s ensuing bombardment of the small Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people has killed more than 30,800 people.
The United Nations had earlier estimated that 300,000 Palestinians are living with little food or clean water.
Palestinian photographer Motaz Azaiza has been documenting the happenings in Gaza, sharing pictures and videos on Instagram to continuously remind others all over the world what those in Gaza experience every day.
His Instagram posts serve as a reminder that the conflict is not over yet.
Many are also calling for a ceasefire.
While we don’t exactly have the power to go straight up to Israel’s leaders and demand for a ceasefire, donating is what we can do right now.
RLAF’s next round of fund-raising will occur this Ramadan, and you can donate here.