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The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just 4 military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarised zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties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 4 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 weaponisation of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanisation – 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 normalisation 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 organisations, 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 militarised 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. Yesh Din
  2. ABCD Bethlehem
  3. ACT Alliance
  4. Act Church of Sweden
  5. Action Against Hunger (ACF)
  6. Action Corps
  7. ActionAid
  8. Age International
  9. Agricultural Development Association – PARC
  10. Al Ard for Agricultural Development
  11. Al-Najd Developmental Forum
  12. American Friends Service Committee
  13. Amnesty International
  14. Amos Trust
  15. Anera
  16. Anti-Slavery International
  17. Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi Bethlehem
  18. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz
  19. Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM
  20. Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI)
  21. Association Switzerland Palestine
  22. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
  23. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
  24. Beesan Charitable Association
  25. Bimkom – Planning and Human Rights
  26. Bisan Center for Research and Development
  27. Botswana Watch Organisation
  28. Breaking the Silence
  29. Broederlijk Delen
  30. CADUS e.V.
  31. Caritas Germany
  32. Caritas International Belgium
  33. Caritas Internationalis
  34. Caritas Jerusalem
  35. Caritas Middle East and North Africa
  36. Center of Jewish Nonviolence
  37. CESIDA – Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS
  38. Children Not Numbers
  39. Choose Love
  40. Christian Aid
  41. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
  42. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
  43. CNCD-11.11.11
  44. codepink
  45. Combatants for Peace
  46. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe
  47. Congregations of St Joseph
  48. COOPERATIVE AGRICULUTAL ASSOCIATION
  49. Cordaid
  50. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)
  51. Coventry Friends of Palestine
  52. Cultures of Resistance
  53. DanChurchAid
  54. Danish Refugee Council
  55. DAWN
  56. Diakonia
  57. Ekō
  58. Embrace the Middle East
  59. Emmaüs International
  60. Entraide et Fraternité
  61. Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network
  62. EuroMed Rights
  63. FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA
  64. Friends Committee on National Legislation
  65. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
  66. Fund for Global Human Rights
  67. Fundación Mundubat
  68. Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG)
  69. Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE)
  70. German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO)
  71. Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
  72. Glia
  73. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
  74. Greenpeace
  75. HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
  76. Hands for Charity
  77. HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)
  78. HelpAge International
  79. Human Security Collective
  80. Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG)
  81. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
  82. Humanity Above All
  83. INARA
  84. Independent Catholic News
  85. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
  86. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
  87. International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
  88. INTERSOS
  89. Islamic Relief Worldwide
  90. Jewish Network for Palestine
  91. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP
  92. Just Foreign Policy
  93. Just Treatment
  94. Kairos Ireland
  95. Kenya Human Rights Commission
  96. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
  97. Martin Etxea Elkartea
  98. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
  99. Médecins du Monde International Network
  100. Médecins Sans Frontières
  101. MedGlobal
  102. Medical Aid for Palestinians
  103. Medico International
  104. medico international schweiz
  105. Medicos sin fronteras (MSF – Spain)
  106. Mennonite Central Committee
  107. Middle East Children’s Alliance
  108. Mothers Manifesto
  109. MPower Change Action Fund
  110. Muslim Aid
  111. Mwatana for Human Rights
  112. Nonviolent Peaceforce
  113. Norwegian Church Aid
  114. Norwegian People’s Aid
  115. Norwegian Refugee Council
  116. Oxfam International
  117. Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
  118. Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  119. Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA)
  120. Parents Against Child Detentions
  121. Partners for Palestine
  122. Partners for Progressive Israel
  123. PAX
  124. Pax Christi Australia
  125. Pax Christi England and Wales
  126. Pax Christi International
  127. Pax Christi Italy
  128. pax christi Munich
  129. Pax Christi Scotland
  130. Pax Christi USA
  131. Peace Direct
  132. Peace Watch Switzerland
  133. Penny Appeal Canada
  134. Physicians for Human Rights Israel
  135. Plan International
  136. Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla
  137. Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
  138. Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS
  139. Première Urgence Internationale
  140. Presbyterian Church (USA)
  141. Quixote Center
  142. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary – NGO
  143. ReThinking Foreign Policy
  144. Right to Movement
  145. Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla
  146. Saferworld
  147. Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
  148. Save the Children
  149. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
  150. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
  151. Solsoc
  152. Stichting Heimat International Foundation
  153. STOPAIDS
  154. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
  155. Terre Des Hommes International Federation
  156. Terre des hommes Lausanne
  157. Terres des Hommes Italia
  158. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)
  159. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)
  160. The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area
  161. The Rights Forum
  162. Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC
  163. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
  164. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK
  165. US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network
  166. Vento di Terra
  167. War Child Alliance
  168. War on Want
  169. Welthungerhilfe

Categories: Emergencies Tags: Child protection in emergencies, Food crisis

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