Photo Source: © Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images
Photo Source: © Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images

Gaza: Starvation or Gunfire – This is Not a Humanitarian Response

1 July 2025

160+ NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies.

Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023.

In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured just trying to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups – some reportedly operating with backing from Israeli authorities – now routinely open fire on desperate civilians risking everything just to survive.

The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favour of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs. These measures are designed to sustain a cycle of desperation, danger, and death. Experienced humanitarian actors remain ready to deliver life-saving assistance at scale. Yet more than 100 days since Israeli authorities reimposed a near-total blockade on aid and commercial goods, Gaza’s humanitarian conditions are collapsing faster than at any point in the past 20 months.

Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point. There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites. With
Gaza’s healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care.

Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations. Those who do manage to obtain food often return with only a few basic items – nearly impossible to prepare without clean water or fuel to cook with. Fuel is nearly depleted, bringing critical lifesaving services – including bakeries, water systems, ambulances, and hospitals – to a standstill. Families are sheltering under plastic sheets, operating makeshift kitchens amid the rubble, without fuel, clean water, sanitation, or electricity.

This is not a humanitarian response.

Concentrating more than two million people into further confined areas for a chance to feed their families is not a plan to save lives. For 20 months, more than two million people have been subjected to relentless bombardment, the weaponization of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanization – all under the watch of the international community. The Sphere Association, which sets minimum standards for quality humanitarian aid, has warned that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s approach does not adhere to core humanitarian standards and principles.

This normalization of suffering must not be allowed to stand. States must reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid. States must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and obstruction of humanitarian aid. States must ensure accountability for grave violations of international law.

We, the undersigned organizations, once again call on all third states to:

      • Take concrete measures to end the suffocating siege and uphold the right of civilians in Gaza to safely access aid and receive protection.
      • Urge donors not to fund militarized aid schemes that violate international law, do not adhere to humanitarian principles, deepen harm, and risk complicity in atrocities.
      • Support the restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination mechanism—grounded in international humanitarian law and inclusive of UNRWA, Palestinian civil society, and the wider humanitarian community—to meet people’s needs.
        We reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the pervasive impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity.

Editor’s Note

      • On 15 June, the Red Cross field hospital in Al Mawasi received at least 170 patients injured while trying to reach a food distribution site. The following day, 16 June, more than 200 patients arrived at the same facility – the highest number recorded in a single mass casualty incident in Gaza. Of that number, 28 Palestinians were declared dead. A WHO official underscored the deadly pattern: “The recent food distribution initiatives by non-UN actors every time result in mass casualty incidents.”
      • These deaths add to the broader toll: since October 2023, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children.

Undersigned:

  1. A New Policy
  2. ABCD Bethlehem
  3. Abriendo Fronteras Guadalajara
  4. ACT Alliance
  5. Act Church of Sweden
  6. Action Against Hunger (ACF)
  7. Action Corps
  8. Action for Humanity
  9. ActionAid
  10. Age International
  11. Agricultural Development Association – PARC
  12. Al Ard for Agricultural Development
  13. Al-Najd Developmental Forum
  14. Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)
  15. American Friends Service Committee
  16. Americares
  17. Amnesty International
  18. Amos Trust
  19. Anera
  20. Anti-Slavery International
  21. Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi Bethlehem
  22. Arbeitskreis Palästina Brühl-Battir
  23. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz
  24. Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM
  25. Associazione Senzaconfine, Roma
  26. Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI)
  27. Association Switzerland Palestine
  28. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
  29. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
  30. Beesan Charitable Association
  31. Bimkom – Planning and Human Rights
  32. Bisan Center for Research and Development
  33. Botswana Watch Organisation
  34. Breaking the Silence
  35. Broederlijk Delen
  36. CADUS e.V.
  37. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)
  38. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
  39. Campaign Against Arms Trade
  40. Campaign Against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs Information and the News (CAMPAIN)
  41. CARE
  42. Caritas Australia
  43. Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
  44. Caritas Germany
  45. Caritas International Belgium
  46. Caritas Internationalis
  47. Caritas Italiana
  48. Caritas Jerusalem
  49. Caritas Maroc
  50. Caritas Middle East and North Africa
  51. Caritas Norway
  52. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
  53. Center of Jewish Nonviolence
  54. CESIDA – Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS.
  55. Charity & Security Network
  56. Children Not Numbers
  57. Choose Love
  58. Christian Aid
  59. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
  60. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
  61. CISS- Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud
  62. CNCD-11.11.11
  63. codepink
  64. Coletivo Shireen Abu Akleh – Jornalistas Contra o Genocídio Shireen (Abu Akleh Collective – Journalists Against Genocide)
  65. Collective Aid
  66. Combatants for Peace
  67. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe
  68. Congregations of St Joseph
  69. Cooperative Agricultural Association – Palestine
  70. Coordination SUD
  71. Cordaid
  72. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)
  73. Courage of Care Coalition
  74. Coventry Friends of Palestine
  75. CRID
  76. Cultures of Resistance
  77. Culture of Solidarity
  78. Dalla parte di Abele
  79. DanChurchAid
  80. Danish Muslim Aid
  81. Danish Refugee Council
  82. DAWN
  83. Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada
  84. Diakonia
  85. Doctors Against Genocide
  86. Ekō
  87. Embrace the Middle East
  88. EMERGENCY – Life Support for Civilian War Victims
  89. Emmaüs International
  90. Entraide et Fraternité
  91. Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network
  92. EuroMed Rights
  93. EyeWitnessGaza
  94. FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA
  95. Franciscans international
  96. Freedom Forward
  97. Friends Committee on National Legislation
  98. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
  99. Fund for Global Human Rights
  100. Fundación Mundubat
  101. Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG)
  102. Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE)
  103. German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO)
  104. Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
  105. Glia
  106. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
  107. Global Development for Palestine (GD4P)
  108. Global Justice Now
  109. Greenpeace
  110. HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
  111. Hands for Charity
  112. Health Justice Initiative – South Africa
  113. HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)
  114. HelpAge International
  115. Human Security Collective
  116. Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG)
  117. Humanitet
  118. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
  119. Humanity Above All
  120. Humanity Auxilium
  121. Humanity First UK
  122. Ina autra senda – Swiss Friends of Combatants for Peace
  123. INARA
  124. Independent Catholic News
  125. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
  126. Initiatives et Changement
  127. Insecurity Insight
  128. Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate
  129. International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
  130. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
  131. International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
  132. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
  133. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) – Germany
  134. INTERSOS
  135. Ir Amim
  136. Islamic Relief Worldwide
  137. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)
  138. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – Germany
  139. J’ai Rêvé foundation
  140. Jahalin Solidarity
  141. Jewish Network for Palestine
  142. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP
  143. Just Foreign Policy
  144. Just Treatment
  145. Kairos Ireland
  146. Kenya Human Rights Commission
  147. KinderUSA
  148. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
  149. Machsomwatch
  150. Mai Indifferenti
  151. Martin Etxea Elkartea
  152. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
  153. Médecins du Monde International Network
  154. Médecins Sans Frontières
  155. MedGlobal
  156. Medical Aid for Palestinians
  157. Medico International
  158. medico international schweiz
  159. MENA Rights Group
  160. Mennonite Central Committee
  161. Mercy Corps
  162. Middle East Children’s Alliance
  163. Migrant Roots Media
  164. Mothers Manifesto
  165. MPower Change Action Fund
  166. Muslim Aid
  167. Mwatana for Human Rights
  168. National Justice and Peace Network E&W
  169. Netzwerk Ökumenisches Begleitprogramm in Palästina und Israel in Deutschland e.V. (EAPPI Netzwerk))
  170. Nonviolent Peaceforce
  171. Norwegian Church Aid
  172. Norwegian People’s Aid
  173. Norwegian Refugee Council
  174. Oxfam International
  175. Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
  176. Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  177. Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA)
  178. Palestinian Housing Council
  179. Parents Against Child Detentions
  180. Partners for Palestine
  181. Partners for Progressive Israel
  182. Partnerschaftsverein Bonn-Ramallah e.V.
  183. PAX
  184. Pax Christi Australia
  185. Pax Christi England and Wales
  186. Pax Christi Deutschland
  187. Pax Christi Flanders
  188. Pax Christi International
  189. Pax Christi Italy
  190. pax christi Munich
  191. Pax Christi Scotland
  192. Pax Christi USA
  193. Peace Direct
  194. Peace Watch Switzerland
  195. Penny Appeal Canada
  196. Physicians for Human Rights Israel
  197. People in Need
  198. Plan International
  199. Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla
  200. Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
  201. Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS
  202. Première Urgence Internationale
  203. Presbyterian Church (USA)
  204. Protection Approaches
  205. Quixote Center
  206. Refugees International
  207. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary – NGO
  208. ReThinking Foreign Policy
  209. Right to Movement
  210. Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla
  211. Sadaka-the Ireland Palestine Alliance
  212. Saferworld
  213. Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
  214. Save the Children
  215. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
  216. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
  217. Solidarités International
  218. Solsoc
  219. Stichting Heimat International Foundation
  220. STOPAIDS
  221. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
  222. Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS)
  223. Tearfund
  224. Terre des Hommes Germany
  225. Terre des Hommes International Federation
  226. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
  227. Terres des Hommes Italia
  228. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)
  229. The International Development and Relief Foundation
  230. The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area
  231. The Rights Forum
  232. The Shift
  233. Trócaire
  234. Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC
  235. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
  236. United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
  237. United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel (UNJPPI)
  238. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK
  239. US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network
  240. Vento di Terra
  241. War Child Alliance
  242. War on Want
  243. Welthungerhilfe
  244. Yesh Din

Disclaimers

Source
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and other NGOs

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