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

Humanity & Inclusion (HI), along with 200+ 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The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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 favor 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 on a 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 almost 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 even more confined areas for the 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 access aid and receive protection safely.

● 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 dignity.

Editor’s Note

● On June 15, 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.

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Email: [email protected]
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Undersigned:

1. ABCD Bethlehem

2. Abriendo Fronteras Guadalajara

3. ACT Alliance

4. Act Church of Sweden

5. Action Against Hunger (ACF)

6. Action Corps

7. Action for Humanity

8. ActionAid

9. Age International

10. Agricultural Development Association - PARC

11. Al Ard for Agricultural Development

12. Al-Najd Developmental Forum

13. American Friends Service Committee

14. Amnesty International

15. Amos Trust

16. Anera

17. Anti-Slavery International

18. Arab Educational Institute - Pax Christi Bethlehem

19.Arbeitskreis Palästina Brühl-Battir

20.Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz

21.Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM

22. Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI)

23. Association Switzerland Palestine

24. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

25. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

26. Beesan Charitable Association

27. Bimkom - Planning and Human Rights

28. Bisan Center for Research and Development

29. Botswana Watch Organisation

30. Breaking the Silence

31. Broederlijk Delen

32. CADUS e.V.

33. Campaign Against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs Information and the News (CAMPAIN)

34. CARE

35. Caritas Germany

36. Caritas International Belgium

37. Caritas Internationalis

38. Caritas Italiana

39. Caritas Jerusalem

40. Caritas Middle East and North Africa

41. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)

42. Center of Jewish Nonviolence

43. CESIDA - Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS.

44. Children Not Numbers

45. Choose Love

46. Christian Aid

47. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

48. CIDSE - International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations

49.CISS- Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud

50.CNCD-11.11.11

51. codepink

52. Coletivo Shireen Abu Akleh - Jornalistas Contra o Genocídio Shireen (Abu Akleh Collective - Journalists Against Genocide)

53. Combatants for Peace

54.Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe

55. Congregations of St Joseph

56. Cooperative Agricultural Association - Palestine

57. Coordination SUD

58. Cordaid

59. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)

60. Courage of Care Coalition

61. Coventry Friends of Palestine

62. Cultures of Resistance

63.DanChurchAid

64. Danish Refugee Council

65. DAWN 66.Diakonia

67. Doctors Against Genocide

68. Ekō

69. Embrace the Middle East

70. EMERGENCY - Life Support for Civilian War Victims

71. Emmaüs International

72.Entraide et Fraternité

73. Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network

74.EuroMed Rights

75.EyeWitnessGaza

76. FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA

77. Franciscans International

78. Freedom Forward

79. Friends Committee on National Legislation

80. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

81. Fund for Global Human Rights

82.Fundación Mundubat

83. Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG)

84. Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE)

85. German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO)

86. Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement

87. Glia

88. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

89. Global Justice Now

90. Greenpeace

91.HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual

92. Hands for Charity

93. Health Justice Initiative - South Africa

94.HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)

95.HelpAge International

96. Human Security Collective

97.Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG)

98.Humanitet 99.Humanity & Inclusion - Handicap International

100. Humanity Above All

101. Humanity Auxilium

102. Humanity First UK

103. INARA

104. Independent Catholic News

105. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

106. Initiatives et Changement

107. Insecurity Insight

108. Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Loreto Generalate

109. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

110. International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)

111. INTERSOS

112. Ir Amim

113. Islamic Relief Worldwide

114. Israei Committee Against House Demolitions Germany

115. J’ai Rêvé foundation

116. Jahalin Solidarity

117. Jewish Network for Palestine

118. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP

119. Just Foreign Policy

120. Just Treatment

121. Kairos Ireland

122. Kenya Human Rights Commission

123. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

124. Machsomwatch

125. Mai Indifferenti

126. Martin Etxea Elkartea

127. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

128. Médecins du Monde International Network

129. Médecins Sans Frontières

130. MedGlobal

131. Medical Aid for Palestinians

132. Medico International

133. medico international schweiz

134. MENA Rights Group

135. Mennonite Central Committee

136. Middle East Children’s Alliance

137. Migrant Roots Media

138. Mothers Manifesto

139. MPower Change Action Fund

140. Muslim Aid

141. Mwatana for Human Rights

142. National Justice and Peace Network E&W

143. Netzwerk Ökumenisches Begleitprogramm in Palästina und Israel in Deutschland e.V. (EAPPI Netzwerk))

144. Nonviolent Peaceforce

145. Norwegian Church Aid

146. Norwegian People’s Aid

147. Norwegian Refugee Council

148. Oxfam International

149. Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

150. Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

151. Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA)

152. Palestinian Housing Council

153. Parents Against Child Detentions

154. Partners for Palestine

155. Partners for Progressive Israel

156. PAX

157. Pax Christi Australia

158. Pax Christi England and Wales

159. Pax Christi Flanders

160. Pax Christi International

161. Pax Christi Italy

162. pax christi Munich

163. Pax Christi Scotland

164. Pax Christi USA

165. Peace Direct

166. Peace Watch Switzerland

167. Penny Appeal Canada

168. Physicians for Human Rights Israel

169. Plan International

170. Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla

171. Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine

172. Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS

173. Première Urgence Internationale

174. Presbyterian Church (USA)

175. Quixote Center

176. Rahma Worldwide for aid and development

177. Refugees International

178. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary - NGO

179. ReThinking Foreign Policy

180. Right to Movement

181. Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla

182. Saferworld

183. Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

184. Save the Children

185. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

186. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team

187. Solsoc 188. Stichting Heimat International Foundation

189. STOPAIDS

190. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina

191. Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS)

192. Terre des Hommes Germany

193. Terre des Hommes International Federation

194. Terre des Hommes Lausanne

195. Terres des Hommes Italia

196. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)

197. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)

198. The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area

199. The Rights Forum

200. Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC

201. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

202. United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)

203. United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel (UNJPPI)

204. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK

205. US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network

206. Vento di Terra

207. War Child Alliance

208. War on Want

209. Welthungerhilfe

210. Yesh Din