MORE than 130 leading charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Gaza have issued a joint call for an end to the “deadly” Israel- and US-led aid distribution scheme.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was set up by the American and Israeli governments to control the flow of aid into Gaza after disputed claims that the UN-led system was seeing aid stolen by Hamas militants.
The GHF’s executive director is Johnnie Moore, an evangelical preacher and former adviser to Donald Trump, who last week called UN reports that more than 400 Palestinians had been killed trying to collect aid from his group “disinformation”.
Israel had imposed an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza which pushed the region to the brink of famine, before it was partially lifted on May 19. The GHF began operating a week later and now controls the four distribution sites in the strip, down from some 400 under the previous UN-led system.
In their joint statement, the more than 130 NGOs said that these militarised zones see Palestinians “face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies”.
They called for the end to the “the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza” and for the system to “revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies”.
The statement – signed by NGOs including Amnesty International, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and Save the Children – goes on: “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 4000 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.
The statement goes on: “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.”
Closing their joint statement, the NGOs call on state actors 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.
It closes: “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.”
