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 The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarised zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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 four weeks, more than 600 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.
Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia’s Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson, says:
“The severity and significance of this chapter of the Gaza genocide is unprecedented. The targeting of civilians who have endured 21 months of genocide and being starved as a weapon of war is not accidental. It is deliberate. It is inhumane and calculated. Those responsible must be brought to justice for accountability,”
“The search for food is being met with gunfire.”
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.
“We are witnessing Israel flagrantly and unashamedly violate its humanitarian obligations under international law, time and time again. We are genocide committed in full view of the world as Palestinians are either starved or killed attempting to secure aid,” says Mr Duar.
“It is shocking and incomprehensible that Palestinians who have survived the ongoing genocide are being forced to risk their lives for food. This is the brutal reality when aid is blocked, an entire population is under siege and starvation is weaponised in pursuit of genocide.
“Israel must immediately cease all inhumane and politically motivated methods of aid delivery and respond to mounting global pressure by allowing full, unhindered humanitarian aid to Gaza by organisations respecting humanitarian principles.
“Humanitarian principles require aid to be distributed independently and impartially to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and uphold human dignity. Aid must never be politicised or weaponised. Its delivery must be adequate, impartial, and responsive to the scale of devastation and starvation facing the Palestinian people.”
“Families are being forced into an impossible choice: die of hunger or die trying to get food. Seeking food should never be a death trap and yet over 600 Palestinians have been killed attempting to simply feed themselves and their families.”
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, militarised 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 shots 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 dehumanization – all under the watch of the international community.
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.
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