Grassroots · Gaza Strip, Palestine
The Sameer Project
Palestinian-led mutual aid moving food, water and medical support to people in Gaza
Shine Sunlight to follow their work and see how it grows.
Since 2024Works across the region
Founded in April 2024 by three Palestinians in the diaspora, The Sameer Project works through coordinators and paid team members on the ground in Gaza across four streams: food and water, medical, camps and a general fund. In 2026 it ran its own kitchen in central Gaza (opened December 2025) and a bakery in Gaza City, and distributed almost 500,000 litres of water a day including near the Yellow Line in Jabalia and Beit Lahia. It spends donations in Gaza within five days and says its 2025 overhead was under 1%.
Co-founders Hala Sabbah and Lena Dajani describe the work as political, not humanitarian. It takes no Western government or conditional funding, relies on crowdfunding and small grants, and pays writers in Gaza to document conditions through its Substack. Funding pressure in mid-2026 forced cuts and a partial pause of activities.