Press releases

Ahead of European leaders meeting tomorrow to discuss the unfolding events in Gaza, Vittorio Infante, Oxfam EU conflict expert, said:

CEOs of 12 humanitarian agencies alarmed by Israel’s call for over a million Palestinians to leave northern Gaza in less than 24 hours. They are urging Israel to rescind this order immediately.

Responding to the Israeli government’s order for northern Gaza to evacuate, Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International interim Executive Director said: “The world can see that this evacuation order is both utterly inhumane and impossible; the Israeli government must rescind it immediately."

Oxfam is warning that a total siege on Gaza will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Yesterday’s announcement from the Israeli government, in response to the appalling attacks by Hamas, will stop all food, water, electricity and fuel from reaching an already vulnerable population. The siege adds to the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has endured for 16 years. 

Ahead of the meeting of European foreign affairs ministers to discuss the unfolding situation in Palestine and Israel, Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam Policy Lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, said: “The mere prospect of suspending aid is not only alarming but is unacceptable.

More than half (57 percent) of the world’s poorest countries, home to 2.4 billion people, are having to cut public spending by a combined $229 billion over the next five years, reveals new analysis by Oxfam today ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Marrakech. 

All parties must immediately end this violence. Millions of innocent civilians are caught in the crosshairs of this escalation and are set to bear it's brunt.  

Responding to the recent wave of attacks in Ukraine which killed at least 52 people, Nicola Bay, Oxfam’s Organizational Lead in Ukraine said: "The attacks, which were near the operations being run by Oxfam and its partner organizations, will mean reaching those people already impacted by this war will be even more challenging."  

The COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis were a windfall for the ultra-wealthy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), who saw their wealth almost double between 2019 and 2022, reveals an Oxfam report published today ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Marrakech. 

Over a third of the Yemeni population are facing extreme hunger, with rates of child malnutrition amongst the highest in the world. One year on from the expiration of the temporary peace agreement, Oxfam in Yemen is calling on all sides of the conflict to strive for a sustainable and inclusive peace, and for cuts to the international aid effort to be reversed.