As Ramadan entered its final nights in March 2025, families across Gaza were still living through displacement and severe shortages of food and clean water. For Human Development Fund (HDF), those nights brought an urgent responsibility: to keep Ramadan aid in Gaza moving to people who needed it.
Laylatul Qadr gives these nights special meaning. The Qur’an describes it as a night “better than a thousand months” (Qur’an 97:3). For HDF supporters, worship and generosity became practical help: a hot meal at Iftar, water safe enough to drink and food a family could prepare in its shelter.
HDF’s update, published after the first 26 days of Ramadan 1446, reported four parts of that response: 50,000 hot meals, clean water reaching 92,000 people each day, 20,000 liters of water delivered daily to camps, and food parcels for 10,600 people.
Ramadan aid in Gaza: 50,000 hot meals
By the 26th day of Ramadan, HDF reported that supporters had helped provide more than 50,000 hot meals across Gaza. Where damaged homes and disrupted services made cooking difficult, a prepared meal gave families something immediate and familiar at the end of a day of fasting.
The number is significant, but its meaning is found at the table. Each serving represented one less meal for a family to search for and one more opportunity to observe Iftar together.
Clean water reaching 92,000 people each day
HDF also reported that clean-water distributions were reaching 92,000 people daily. Families arrived with containers and collected water from HDF-supported tankers in communities where damaged infrastructure had made reliable access difficult.
As part of this work, HDF said it delivered 20,000 liters of clean water each day to camps in central and northern Gaza. The water supported drinking and everyday hygiene needs for displaced families.
Food parcels for 10,600 people
Alongside prepared meals, HDF reported that food parcels reached 10,600 people. The parcels included staples such as flour, oil, rice and dates, giving households ingredients they could use to prepare meals during Ramadan.
A parcel does more than answer one evening’s need. It gives a family some choice over what to prepare and helps restore a small measure of routine amid displacement.
The people within the numbers
HDF’s first-26-days update recorded:
- More than 50,000 hot meals served
- Clean water reaching 92,000 people each day
- 20,000 liters of water delivered daily to camps
- Food parcels reaching 10,600 people
These figures describe the scale of the response, but the photographs show what the figures cannot: children gathering around a meal, families carrying water home and team members placing food directly into people’s hands.
Watch HDF’s Ramadan 1446 video update.
Let support continue beyond one night
Ramadan’s final nights remind us that sincere acts do not need to be large to matter. A meal, a container of clean water or a food parcel can ease one part of a family’s day.
The figures in this update cover the first 26 days of Ramadan 1446. The need in Gaza continued beyond that reporting period, and HDF’s Gaza response remains active.
Learn about and support HDF’s Gaza relief →
May Allah accept every act of worship and generosity, bring relief to families in Gaza and grant them safety and peace. Ameen.
