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

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.

Posted on 01 Jul 2025

The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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:

Editor’s Note

Undersigned

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