Joint Statement - GAZA: Starvation or Gunfire - This is Not a Humanitarian Response

Source: Pax Christi

Pax Christi International, along with 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.

The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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

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.

Signed by

ABCD Bethlehem
ACT Alliance
Act Church of Sweden
Action Against Hunger (ACF)
Action Corps
ActionAid
Age International
Agricultural Development Association - PARC
Al Ard for Agricultural Development
Al-Najd Developmental Forum
American Friends Service Committee
Amnesty International
Amos Trust
Anera
Anti-Slavery International
Arab Educational Institute - Pax Christi Bethlehem
Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz
Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM
Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI)
Association Switzerland Palestine
B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Beesan Charitable Association
Bimkom - Planning and Human Rights
Bisan Center for Research and Development
Botswana Watch Organisation
Breaking the Silence
Broederlijk Delen
CADUS e.V.
Caritas Germany
Caritas International Belgium
Caritas Internationalis
Caritas Jerusalem
Caritas Middle East and North Africa
Center of Jewish Nonviolence
CESIDA - Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS
Children Not Numbers
Choose Love
Christian Aid
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
CIDSE - International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
CNCD-11.11.11
codepink
Combatants for Peace
Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe
Congregations of St Joseph
COOPERATIVE AGRICULUTAL ASSOCIATION
Cordaid
Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)
Coventry Friends of Palestine
Cultures of Resistance
DanChurchAid
Danish Refugee Council
DAWN
Diakonia
Ekō
Embrace the Middle East
Emmaüs International
Entraide et Fraternité
Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network
EuroMed Rights
FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Fund for Global Human Rights
Fundación Mundubat
Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG)
Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE)
German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO)
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Glia
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
Greenpeace
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Hands for Charity
HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)
HelpAge International
Human Security Collective
Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG)
Humanity & Inclusion - Handicap International
Humanity Above All
INARA
Independent Catholic News
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)
INTERSOS
Islamic Relief Worldwide
Jewish Network for Palestine
Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP
Just Foreign Policy
Just Treatment
Kairos Ireland
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
Martin Etxea Elkartea
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Médecins du Monde International Network
Médecins Sans Frontières
MedGlobal
Medical Aid for Palestinians
Medico International
medico international schweiz
Medicos sin fronteras (MSF - Spain)
Mennonite Central Committee
Middle East Children's Alliance
Mothers Manifesto
MPower Change Action Fund
Muslim Aid
Mwatana for Human Rights
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Norwegian Church Aid
Norwegian People's Aid
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam International
Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)
Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA)
Parents Against Child Detentions
Partners for Palestine
Partners for Progressive Israel
PAX
Pax Christi Australia
Pax Christi England and Wales
Pax Christi International
Pax Christi Italy
pax christi Munich
Pax Christi Scotland
Pax Christi USA
Peace Direct
Peace Watch Switzerland
Penny Appeal Canada
Physicians for Human Rights Israel
Plan International
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla
Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS
Première Urgence Internationale
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Quixote Center
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary - NGO
ReThinking Foreign Policy
Right to Movement
Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla
Saferworld
Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
Save the Children
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team
Solsoc
Stichting Heimat International Foundation
STOPAIDS
Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
Terre Des Hommes International Federation
Terre des hommes Lausanne
Terres des Hommes Italia
The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)
The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area
The Rights Forum
Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC
United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK
US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network
Vento di Terra
War Child Alliance
War on Want
Welthungerhilfe
Yesh Din