The Jewish Federations of North America have established the Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund to provide humanitarian aid and support recovery efforts following two devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela, causing widespread destruction, loss of life, and significant damage to homes and infrastructure.
Federations have a long and proud history of response to global crises, aiding vulnerable Jewish populations and individuals of all faiths and backgrounds in the hardest-hit places. Our overseas partners, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and The Jewish Agency for Israel, are already in motion and are assessing needs to determine how to be best positioned to help provide immediate assistance to the Venezuelan Jewish community and meet evolving humanitarian needs. Relief efforts include emergency food distribution, temporary shelter, and other essential support for families and communities impacted by the disaster.
To give to the relief efforts, please visit JFNA’s relief fund page.
Update (as of 7.2.26):
More than a week after two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela, search-and-rescue operations continue, though hopes of finding additional survivors are fading. Authorities have confirmed more than 2,200 deaths and over 11,000 injuries, while tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for due to widespread communications outages and the scale of the destruction. More than 6 million people are estimated to have been affected, with hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.
The Venezuelan government has declared a national state of emergency, mobilized the military, emergency services, and public health system, and begun restoring critical infrastructure, although its response has faced criticism over the pace of rescue operations and the distribution of aid. More than 1,600 international rescue personnel from dozens of countries, together with the United Nations and major humanitarian organizations, are supporting search-and-rescue efforts and delivering emergency food, medical care, shelter, and water and sanitation assistance. The greatest challenges remain reaching isolated communities, restoring electricity, communications, and transportation networks, providing adequate shelter for displaced families, and preventing a secondary public health crisis as damaged health facilities, limited access to clean water, and poor sanitation increase the risk of disease outbreaks.
The Impact on the Jewish Community
We are deeply saddened to report that the death toll within the Jewish community has risen to nine. May their memories, and those of all who have perished, be a blessing.
The impact on the community has been significant. Current reports indicate that 15 homes belonging to community members have been destroyed. Jewish communal infrastructure has become a vital lifeline, with the Hebraica JCC serving as the community’s central hub for emergency response. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, approximately 400 people sought refuge there. Many have since relocated to stay with family or friends or have secured temporary accommodation; others remain on site because their homes are uninhabitable or they do not feel safe returning. More than 130 people spent last Shabbat at Hebraica, and approximately 15 evacuees continue to shelter there.
Through its longstanding humanitarian assistance program in Venezuela, JDC and its local partners were able to immediately deploy pre-positioned food, medication, and other essential supplies to address urgent needs following the earthquake. The community is also supporting affected families through a day camp serving 143 children with the assistance of 18 madrichim (counselors), enabling parents to manage home repairs or participate in relief efforts. In addition, the community is using an internal tracking system to monitor those affected, assess their needs, and coordinate the distribution of assistance.
JDC response teams have arrived in the city and are working to support the distribution of humanitarian aid, meet with community members and other local organizations and suppliers, and assess urgent needs. Venezuela is expected to remain in a prolonged state of emergency, with the immediate relief phase likely to last weeks and possibly months. Looking ahead, JDC is also planning to assist Jewish community members who lost their homes with temporary rentals and home repairs.
Thanks to the continued support of Jewish Federations and the local preparedness infrastructure built together over the years, the Jewish Agency for Israel was able to respond immediately to the crisis. The Jewish Agency for Israel remains in close contact with the local community to assess evolving needs and coordinate both immediate assistance and longer-term support efforts. An emergency assistance grant is funding the purchase of essential food and supplies for vulnerable community members. The Agency has deployed dedicated psychosocial support through a trauma specialist working with the community on the ground and is exploring additional resilience and educational initiatives for the coming months in coordination with partners such as Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism and Keren Hayesod. The Agency’s dedicated hotline in Israel is assisting Venezuelan olim seeking to locate or contact relatives.
The Vaad Hakehilot of Venezuela (Council of Jewish Communities) has opened its own fundraising campaign to help with rebuilding efforts for the community.
Jewish Assistance for the General Population
With support from JDC and the Jewish Agency, the Hebraica JCC has become a central hub for the broader relief effort, bringing together hundreds of Jewish volunteers to support affected communities across Caracas and the hard-hit state of La Guaira. Most assistance is being directed to non-sectarian shelters and relief sites, including food, water, hygiene supplies, and other essential items.
At the same time, JDC is identifying and vetting local partners for its broader humanitarian response. All non-sectarian assistance will be delivered in partnership with the Jewish community through organizations approved by both JDC’s Global Response and Innovative Development (GRID) and the local community, with established humanitarian credentials and the ability to receive international funding. JDC is prioritizing the rapid delivery of food, safe drinking water, hygiene kits, and essential non-food items (e.g. flashlights, clothes, toilet paper, cooking items, diapers) to populations in urgent need and expected to face severe shortages. They are also planning support for medical outreach and procurement of essential supplies and equipment.
The State of Israel has deployed a joint humanitarian delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Defense Forces, and the Home Front Command to support Venezuela’s earthquake response, despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries since 2009. The delegation, led by Ambassador Yoed Magen and Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, will work alongside Venezuelan authorities to assess structural damage, share Israel’s expertise in disaster response, and identify priority recovery needs. The mission required the establishment of direct communication channels between the Israeli and Venezuelan foreign ministries—the first such official contacts in nearly two decades—and underscores Israel’s longstanding policy of providing humanitarian assistance regardless of political relations.
Teams from additional Jewish and Israeli organizations are now working on the ground in Venezuela. IsraAID has deployed an emergency response team to assess urgent needs with a focus on essential aid distributions, mental health and psychological first aid, and water, sanitation, and hygiene needs, together with local partners. A team from NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief is on the ground assessing medical needs, with a team of doctors and nurses set to follow. Cadena, a Jewish humanitarian organization founded in Mexico, has been assisting with search and rescue since Friday.
For more information, please contact Benjy Rutland at Benjamin.Rutland@JewishFederations.com