Starvation or Gunfire - This is Not a Humanitarian Response
Published: Jul 8, 2025 Reading time: 9 minutes Share: Share an article200+ 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 The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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. 132. 133. International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) -
Germany
134. INTERSOS
135. Ir Amim
136. Islamic Relief Worldwide
137. 138. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)
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. 153. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
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. People in Need
197. Physicians for Human Rights Israel
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