As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and the communities we serve are wasting away. Under the Israeli government’s suffocating siege, even aid workers now stand in food lines, risking gunfire just to feed their families. With supplies completely exhausted, humanitarian organisations are watching their own teams and partners starve before their eyes.
Two months since the Israeli government-controlled aid mechanism began operating, 109 organisations are raising the alarm, urging governments to act: open all land crossings immediately; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medicine, shelter supplies, and fuel through a UN-led system; end the siege; and agree to a ceasefire now.
“Each morning, the same question echoes across Gaza: will I eat today?”
— Humanitarian agency representative in Gaza
Near-daily massacres at food distribution sites continue unchecked. As of July 13, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians killed while seeking aid—201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points. Thousands more have been injured. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have forcibly displaced nearly two million Palestinians, confining them to less than 12% of Gaza under relentless bombardment. The World Food Programme warns that operations are now untenable. Starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime.
Just outside Gaza—and even inside it—warehouses sit full of food, water, medicine, and fuel, while humanitarian groups are blocked from delivering lifesaving aid. Israel’s restrictions, delays, and siege policies have created chaos, starvation, and death. One aid worker shared the heartbreaking reality: “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.”
Doctors report record levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among children and the elderly. Diseases like acute watery diarrhoea are surging, markets are barren, and streets are littered with waste. Adults collapse from hunger and dehydration, while aid deliveries average just 28 trucks a day—far too little for over two million people, many of whom have gone weeks without assistance.
The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed—it has been deliberately prevented from functioning.
Agencies have the supplies and capacity to respond at scale, but Israel’s blockade keeps aid from reaching those in need—including our own starving teams. On July 10, the EU and Israel announced steps to scale up aid, but these promises ring hollow while nothing changes on the ground. Each day without full access means more lives lost to preventable causes. Children starve waiting for aid that never comes.
Palestinians endure a cycle of hope and despair, clinging to promises of ceasefires and aid, only to wake to worsening horrors. Survival dangles like a mirage. Humanitarian operations cannot run on empty pledges.
Governments must stop waiting for permission to act. Current arrangements are failing. The world must:
Demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire
Open all land crossings
End bureaucratic obstruction
Ensure unrestricted access to all of Gaza
Reject military-controlled aid distribution
Restore a UN-led humanitarian response
Halt arms transfers to Israel
Airdrops and symbolic gestures cannot mask inaction. States have a legal and moral duty to protect civilians and ensure aid reaches Gaza at scale. They must act before there’s no one left to save.
Signatories:
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