Middle East Crisis Appeal

Australian Red Cross is supporting the wider International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to deliver principled, needs‑based assistance across the Middle East. Our contributions help support the work of National Societies operating in highly complex and rapidly changing environments – including the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Magen David Adom in Israel, the Lebanese Red Cross, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society – all of whom have mobilised teams providing medical care, ambulance services, search and rescue support, and other essential activities as needs evolve.

We work through the ICRC and IFRC to help strengthen operational readiness, reinforce emergency health and logistics capacities, and support efforts to maintain safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian and medical personnel. These coordinated efforts remain critical as Movement partners continue their work amid heightened security risks and disruptions to essential services.

Your donation will help us and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners address immediate and long-term needs from the crisis across the Middle East region, including:

• Providing emergency relief such as healthcare, water, sanitation, shelter, and protection services
• Deploying specialist humanitarian workers to support humanitarian operations
• Monitoring conditions for those who have been taken hostage, arrested, or detained to ensure humane treatment and dignity, where access is granted
• Restoring contact between family members separated by the crisis through our Restoring Family Links service and offering support to repatriated community members
• Promoting and monitoring the application of international humanitarian law (IHL), which requires all parties to armed conflict to protect civilians and hospitals
• Monitoring and evaluating the humanitarian response to ensure effective support reaches those in need.

In Australia, our Restoring Family Links service is available for people who have lost contact with loved ones in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Call 1800 875 199 9am–5pm (AEDT) or email tracing@redcross.org.au.

If your loved one is an Australian citizen, you can also contact the DFAT Consular Emergency hotline on 1300 555 135 for support and advice.

Yes, donations of gifts over $2 are tax deductible in Australia. If you receive a material benefit for your donation then it is not tax deductible: for example, if you receive points or another material benefit from your credit card provider.

You will receive a receipt in your name.

Australian Red Cross will ensure that at least 90% of funds raised for this international appeal are spent directly on this response. Our appeal and administration costs vary depending upon the type and scale of activity.

Up to 10% of funds received are used to fund our core operating costs that make the response possible e.g. office facilities, staff, and IT services, and donor call centres.

We welcome volunteer support, but we can’t send volunteers overseas to help in an emergency or humanitarian crisis. When we need to send people overseas, we have a roster of skilled aid workers with extensive experience in their field, together with previous international experience, and training in how our emergency operations work.

To volunteer with Red Cross in Australia, visit redcross.org.au/volunteer to search volunteer opportunities.

We really appreciate the generosity, but we are not accepting in-kind donations for food, clothes, medical equipment or other items, as we’re unable to distribute those overseas. There are several good reasons for this. Every item has to be checked, cleaned, sorted, packed, transported, stored and distributed, which hugely increases the cost of the relief effort and diverts from work that may be needed on the ground.

Also, the items donated aren’t always what people need. But cash helps people make dignified choices that are right for them. Even worse, unwanted boxes of donated goods can clog ports and post offices and actually prevent the delivery of essential items like medicines and relief supplies. 

Read more about what might happen when goods are donated after an emergency: Donating clothes or goods after an emergency.

If you have good-quality clothes or household items, our Red Cross Shops would gratefully accept them, to on-sell in Australia and raise funds for our vital work. Find out how you can donate.

Australian Red Cross resources

After a distressing event has happened

اطلاعات برای اجتماعات، والدین و مراقبین

Coping with a major personal crisis (PDF) | Easy English version (PDF)

Supporting your community

Resources for parents and caregivers

Psychological First Aid (PDF)

Restoring Family Links program

The Australian Red Cross Restoring Family Links program has a long history of supporting families separated from loved ones due to conflict, disaster, or migration. We remain ready to assist anyone searching for family members.

Hotline number (free call): 1800 875 199
Monday to Friday 10am – 7pm (AEDT) except public holidays
OR email us at tracing@redcross.org.au and we may be able to assist.

International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Psychosocial Centre

How do you talk to children about war?

How to talk to children about war (PDF)

How to talk to children about war (Arabic) (PDF)

Forum of Australian Services to Survivors of Torture and Trauma

Witness to War is a free and confidential multilingual telephone hotline available for Australians affected by overseas conflict. Bicultural support workers and mental health practitioners are available to listen to concerns, provide information, and connect people to services. Support is available in Arabic, English and other languages.

Hotline number (free call): 1800 845 198
Monday to Friday 10am – 7pm (AEDT) except public holidays.

Australian Red Cross is unable to provide legal or migration advice. For more information about visas or helping friends or relatives to leave Iran, please visit the Department of Home Affairs website.