“Is aid really reaching Gaza?”
For May 2025, HDF’s answer was yes. This Gaza aid update records meals prepared, water distributed, patients treated and other support delivered by Human Development Fund (HDF) teams in North and Central Gaza.
The work took place amid severe restrictions, displacement and danger. It depended on staff and partners who continued serving families in conditions that changed from one day to the next.
HDF CEO Shaykh Abdirahman Kariye described the responsibility plainly: “Every day, our brave teams in Gaza are risking their lives to bring families the support they so desperately need. This is the human cost of relief work in Gaza, and yet our teams remain steadfast.”
Gaza aid update for May 2025: food and water
Hot meals
HDF reported delivering 57,200 hot meals in May. Daily meal production increased from 1,800 to nearly 3,000, with distribution through HDF camps in North and Central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Hospital and Al-Helou Hospital. An additional North Gaza operation began on May 18.
Clean water
During the same month, HDF reported distributing 670,000 liters of clean water to more than 134,000 people. Water wells and delivery trucks supported daily operations across North and Central Gaza.
The containers gathered around a distribution point tell part of the story. A delivery becomes drinking water, water for cooking and a small measure of relief from the repeated search for a basic necessity.
Medical care and infant nutrition
Mobile clinics
HDF’s mobile clinics brought care into camps and underserved communities. The May update records 924 patients treated in North Gaza and 533 in Central Gaza, with the Central Gaza service beginning on May 8.
Each figure represents a consultation that could take place closer to where a patient was living. The update does not provide diagnoses or treatment outcomes, so these numbers should be understood as recorded patient visits rather than evidence of a particular medical result.
Infant formula
HDF also reported distributing 3,000 units of infant formula through hospitals and camps in North, Central and South Gaza.
For a parent trying to feed a baby during displacement, a single container can answer an immediate need. The article does not state how many infants or households received the formula, so the unit count should not be converted into a beneficiary total.
Shelter, sanitation and a place to learn
HDF reported adding 90 emergency tents across its North and Central Gaza camps, bringing the stated total to 290 tents. Teams also installed four sanitation units intended to serve 280 people each day.
These figures record units installed, not the length of time families remained sheltered or the long-term condition of the facilities. They show practical capacity added during May while displacement continued.
Education continued alongside emergency relief. HDF’s North Gaza school was operating with 60 students in grades 2 through 4, studying four core subjects. At the time of the update, infrastructure for a Central Gaza school was still under development.
The distinction matters. One school was serving students; the other remained a project in progress. Reporting both clearly gives donors a more honest view of what had been completed and what had not.
When families exchange an aid item
Questions sometimes arise when a person exchanges something received through aid. That does not necessarily mean the item was unwanted or that assistance failed to reach its recipient.
A family may have flour but urgently need medicine. Another may trade one household item for water, transportation or something required by a child. Shaykh Abdirahman Kariye called this “the harsh mathematics of survival.” It reflects the impossible choices families can face when several essential needs go unmet at once.
This is why a responsible response must listen and adapt. Food, water, healthcare, shelter and education answer different needs. No single distribution can stand in for all of them.
HDF’s Gaza response continues
This article records activity reported for May 2025. Conditions, access routes and program totals can change, so current decisions should be based on HDF’s latest Gaza response information rather than this dated snapshot.
See HDF’s current Gaza response →
Thank you to every donor and every member of the team who helped make this work possible. Keep Gaza in your du’as. May Allah protect its people, bring relief to every family and reward those who serve them. Ameen.
