Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye is donating $2.5 million toward emergency humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
According to the announcement, the singer’s generosity will account for 4 million emergency meals that could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks. The money will come from Tesfaye’s XO Humanitarian Fund.
Tesfaye is a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Goodwill Ambassador. The announcement explains that since October 7, when the recent Israel-Hamas violence started, WFP has provided food assistance to more than 764,000 Palestinians in coordination with other United Nations agencies and local and regional implementing partners. Since the recent humanitarian pause in fighting, WFP has reached more than 121,000 people, including previously inaccessible areas within Gaza. Food assistance has included fresh bread, fortified date bars, canned food, wheat flour, pasta, tomato paste, and oil. The organization continues to get as many trucks as possible full of food and aid into Gaza daily during the humanitarian pause.
“This conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe beyond reckoning. WFP is working round the clock to provide aid in Gaza, but a major scale-up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger we are seeing. Our teams need safe and sustained humanitarian access and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can,” said Corinne Fleischer, WFP’s Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe Region. “We thank Abel for this valuable contribution towards the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts.”
Tesfaye’s XO Humanitarian Fund, which he established in partnership with World Food Program USA, has raised $5 million to date.
(Cover Photo: The Weeknd performing/Photo by Lev Radin)