The Weeknd Donates $2.5 Million to Feed Palestinians in Gaza
Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, has donated $2.5 million from his XO Humanitarian Fund to help civilians in Gaza who are facing a severe food crisis. According to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), this amount will provide more than four million emergency meals, or 820 metric tons of food, for over 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks.
Tesfaye became a Goodwill Ambassador for the WFP initiative in October 2021. He established his XO Humanitarian Fund with the World Food Program USA, which has raised $5 million so far to support people who have difficulty accessing food. He also contributed $1.8 million of his own money to the WFP.
“The level of hunger we are seeing is desperate and requires a major scale up of aid in Gaza,” said Corinne Fleischer, WFP’s director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Region, in a statement. “WFP is working non-stop to deliver aid in Gaza but we need safe and sustained humanitarian access, and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can. We are grateful to Abel for this generous donation to the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts.” The organization reports that Tesfaye’s XO has previously given $2.5 million to provide emergency food relief to Ethiopian women and children. Tesfaye has also pledged to give one dollar from every concert ticket he sells for next year’s After Hours ’til Dawn stadium tour to the XO Humanitarian Fund. He has not yet announced the dates for the tour.
The conflict erupted when Israel launched a war on the region after Hamas’ violent attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, including at a music festival. Israeli authorities believe that Hamas killed around 1,200 people in its attack on Oct. 7. More than 1.7 million Gazans have been displaced, according to NBC News, and the death toll is believed to be more than 15,000 casualties in the region. Hamas, which took several hostages, released some during a brief ceasefire with Israel this week. The truce between Israel and Hamas expired on Friday. NBC News reports that Hamas are still holding around 140 captives.