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

As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.

Exactly two months since the Israeli government-controlled scheme, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began operating, more than 100 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. Development and Peace – Caritas Canada

30. Doctors against Genocide

31. Episcopal Peace Fellowship

32. EuroMed Rights

33. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

34. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V.

35. Gender Action for Peace and Security

36. Glia

37. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)

38. Global Witness

39. Health Workers 4 Palestine

40. HelpAge International

41. Human Concern International

42. Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

43. Humanity First UK

44. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

45. Insecurity Insight

46. International Media Support

47. International NGO Safety Organisation

48. Islamic Relief

49. Jahalin Solidarity

50. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

51. Justice for All

52. Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP)

53. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

54. MedGlobal

55. Medico International

56. Medico International Switzerland (medico international schweiz)

57. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

58. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

59. Medicine for the People - Belgium (MPLP/GVHV)

60. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

61. Médecins du Monde France

62. Médecins du Monde Spain

63. Médecins du Monde Switzerland

64. Mercy Corps

65. Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

66. Movement for Peace (MPDL)

67. Muslim Aid

68. National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales

69. Nonviolence International

70. Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)

71. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

72. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)

73. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

74. Oxfam International

75. Pax Christi England and Wales

76. Pax Christi International

77. Pax Christi Merseyside

78. Pax Christi USA

79. Pal Law Commission

80. Palestinian American Medical Association

81. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

82. Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)

83. Peace Direct

84. Peace Winds

85. Pediatricians for Palestine

86. People in Need

87. Plan International

88. Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)

89. Progettomondo

90. Project HOPE

91. Quaker Palestine Israel Network

92. Rebuilding Alliance

93. Refugees International

94. Saferworld

95. Sabeel‐Kairos UK

96. Save the Children (SCI)

97. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

98. Solidarités International

99. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina

100. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)

101. Terre des Hommes Italia

102. Terre des Hommes Lausanne

103. Terre des Hommes Nederland

104. The Borgen Project

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

106. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

107. The International Development and Relief Foundation

108. The Institute for the Understanding of Anti‐Palestinian Racism

109. Un Ponte Per (UPP)

110. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

111. War Child Alliance

112. War Child UK

113. War on Want

114. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.

115. Welthungerhilfe (WHH)