An urgent Welsh appeal for money for frontline medical services in Gaza, launched by the Anglican Archbishop in Wales, has started to attract widespread public support as the tragic conflict continues.

Although Gaza is in the glare of media publicity, too little hard information is getting out about the scale of suffering endured by ordinary people under bombardment says a leading Catholic charity.

In the face of growing political instability and desperate food shortages in Zimbabwe, The Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) is supporting an appeal through ACT International (Action by Churches Together) that will distribute emergency food supplies to vulnerable households.

Following protests from civic, human rights and church groups, Israel has said that it will allow some fuel and medicine into the Gaza Strip - but only for one day. Its blockade has contributed to a large humanitarian crisis.

Governments, aid agencies and humanitarian actors must spend twice as much on disaster preparedness activities that could save millions of lives, according to Robert Tickner, CEO of Australian Red Cross.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has expressed concern at reports of harassment of aid workers in Sudan's western Darfur region and has criticised the Khartoum government for "failing to provide humanitarian agencies with the support it has agreed upon" - writes Peter Kenny for Ecumenical News International.

Renewed violence in the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in a territory Palestinians call the "world's largest prison", say church and human rights organizations - writes Chris Herlinger for Ecumenical News International from Gaza City.