The Weeknd, who now goes by his given name Abel Tesfaye, is a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador.
The UN World Food Programme announced on Friday, December 1, that The Weeknd has allocated $2.5 million from his XO Humanitarian Fund to support the WFP's humanitarian response in Gaza.
According to the charity, the gift, which is equivalent to four million emergency meals, will pay for the delivery of 820 metric tons, or over 1.8 million pounds, of food packs, which would be sufficient to sustain over 173,000 Palestinians for a fortnight.
Beyond measure, a humanitarian catastrophe has been unleashed by this battle.
In a statement regarding the rush to supply relief in Gaza, WFP's Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe Region Corinne Fleischer stated, "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."
After the Islamic militant group Hamas launched an unexpected onslaught on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the murder of over 1,200 Israelis and the captivity of 240 women, children, men, and elderly residents, Israeli troops responded with weeks of intense bombardment, which led to the current crisis.
"Our teams need safe and sustained humanitarian access, and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can," Fleischer continued. "We thank Abel for this valuable contribution towards the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel's example and support our efforts."
The WFP added that Tesfaye's donation comes at a crucial moment for the organization's attempts to feed the over a million Gazans who are in danger of starving as a result of the organization's reprisal for the organization's attack on Israel on October 7, which was recognized as a foreign terrorist group by the U.S. State Department in 1997.
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Fresh bread, fortified date bars, canned food, wheat flour, pasta, tomato sauce, and oil were distributed to over 121,000 individuals in Gaza by the World Food Program (WFP) during the recently concluded week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Since being named a Goodwill Ambassador in October 2021, Tesfaye has contributed $1.8 million personally through his XO fund to support the World Food Program's global hunger relief efforts.
The singer has also promised to donate $1 from each concert ticket sold during the 2024 leg of his After Hours 'til Dawn stadium tour to the XO Humanitarian Fund.
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