Feminist Leaders Call for an Immediate Ceasefire and Protection of Civilians in Lebanon 

Across Lebanon, Israel’s escalating attacks have killed and injured thousands of civilians and forced over a million to leave their homes. Healthcare facilities and other community infrastructure have been repeatedly targeted, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis. Yet the scale of this violence remains underreported. 

We are hearing from our feminist partners in Lebanon who are navigating relentless violence, mass displacement, and the collapse of essential health services. They are calling for a sustained ceasefire, protection of civilians, full respect for international humanitarian law, and safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We join their call: The attacks on civilian life must stop.   

Global Fund for Women grantee partners, many of whom we have supported for over a decade, are leading urgent, life-sustaining responses in Lebanon. They are delivering cash assistance, food, hygiene kits and menstrual products to displaced communities, including LGBTQI+ individuals, migrant and refugee women, and others systematically excluded due to access barriers, registration requirements, and stigma. Through community-based networks, they are identifying and reaching people in shelters, on the streets, and in informal housing where no official relief has arrived or that is often delayed, and those who are facing high levels of gender-based violence. They continue to run community kitchens that deliver daily meals to hundreds of families.  

We stand in solidarity and echo feminist calls for the world to not look away as their communities come under sustained attack. This is a time for collective action, and for allies to continue directing flexible funding to local feminist organizations who are sustaining their communities with care, courage, and accountability.