As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away

Exactly two months since the Israeli government-controlled scheme, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began operating, 109 organisations are sounding the alarm, urging governments to act: open all land crossings; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel through a principled, UN-led mechanism; end the siege, and agree to a ceasefire now.

“Each morning, the same question echoes across Gaza: will I eat today?” said one agency representative.

Massacres at food distribution sites in Gaza are occurring near-daily. As of July 13, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points. Thousands more have been injured. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have forcibly displaced nearly two million exhausted Palestinians with the most recent mass displacement order issued on July 20, confining Palestinians to less than 12 per cent of Gaza. WFP warns that current conditions make operations untenable. The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.

Just outside Gaza, in warehouses - and even within Gaza itself - tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them. The Government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death. An aid worker providing psychosocial support spoke of the devastating impact on children: “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.”

Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people. Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration. Distributions in Gaza average just 28 trucks a day, far from enough for over two million people, many of whom have gone weeks without assistance.

The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed, it has been prevented from functioning.

Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and supplies to respond at scale. But, with access denied, we are blocked from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starved teams. On July 10, the EU and Israel announced steps to scale up aid. But these promises of ‘progress’ ring hollow when there is no real change on the ground. Every day

without a sustained flow means more people dying of preventable illnesses. Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive.

Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.

Governments must stop waiting for permission to act. We cannot continue to hope that current arrangements will work. It is time to take decisive action: demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; lift all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; open all land crossings; ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response and continue to fund principled and impartial humanitarian organisations. States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition.

Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction. They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.

Signatories:

1. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

2. A.M. Qattan Foundation

3. A New Policy

4. ACT Alliance

5. Action Against Hunger (ACF)

6. Action for Humanity

7. ActionAid International

8. American Baptist Churches Palestine Justice Network

9. Amnesty International

10. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz

11. Associazione Cooperazione e Solidarietà (ACS)

12. Bystanders No More

13. Campain

14. CARE

15. Caritas Germany

16. Caritas Internationalis

17. Caritas Jerusalem

18. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)

19. Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)

20. CESVI Fondazione

21. Children Not Numbers

22. Christian Aid

23. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

24. CIDSE- International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations

25. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud (CISS)

26. Council for Arab‑British Understanding (CAABU) 27. DanChurchAid (DCA)

28. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

29. Doctors against Genocide

30. Episcopal Peace Fellowship

31. EuroMed Rights

32. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) 33. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V.

34. Gender Action for Peace and Security

35. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)

36. Global Witness

37. Health Workers 4 Palestine

38. HelpAge International

39. Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

40. Humanity First UK

41. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

42. Insight Insecurity

43. International Media Support

44. International NGO Safety Organisation

45. Islamic Relief

46. Jahalin Solidarity

47. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

48. Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP) 49. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

50. MedGlobal

51. Medico International

52. Medico International Switzerland (medico international schweiz) 53. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

54. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

55. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

56. Médecins du Monde France

57. Médecins du Monde Spain

58. Médecins du Monde Switzerland

59. Mercy Corps

60. Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

61. Movement for Peace (MPDL)

62. Muslim Aid

63. National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales 64. Nonviolence International

65. Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)

66. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

67. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)

68. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

69. Oxfam International

70. Pax Christi England and Wales

71. Pax Christi International

72. Pax Christi Merseyside

73. Pax Christi USA

74. Pal Law Commission

75. Palestinian American Medical Association

76. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

77. Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)

78. Peace Direct

79. Peace Winds

80. Pediatricians for Palestine

81. People in Need

82. Plan International

83. Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)

84. Progettomondo

85. Project HOPE

86. Quaker Palestine Israel Network

87. Rebuilding Alliance

88. Saferworld

89. Sabeel‑Kairos UK

90. Save the Children (SCI)

91. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

92. Solidarités International

93. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina

94. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)

95. Terre des Hommes Italia

96. Terre des Hommes Lausanne

97. Terre des Hommes Nederland

98. The Borgen Project

99. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)

100. The Glia Project

101. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) 102. The Institute for the Understanding of Anti‑Palestinian Racism 103. Un Ponte Per (UPP)

104. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

105. War Child Alliance

106. War Child UK

107. War on Want

108. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.

109. Welthungerhilfe (WHH)