Over 100 organizations sound the alarm to let life-saving aid into Gaza.

As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we support are fading away.

While the Israeli government's blockade is starving the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food queues and risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now completely exhausted, humanitarian organizations are watching their own colleagues and partners wither away before their eyes.

Exactly two months since the Israeli government-controlled program, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began operating, Oxfam and more than 100 organizations are sounding the alarm and calling on governments to act: open all border crossings; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter and fuel through a UN-led mechanism based on humanitarian principles; end the siege and agree to a ceasefire now.

"Every morning, the same question echoes throughout Gaza: will I eat today?"

A representative of an organization.

Massacres at food distribution points in Gaza occur almost daily. On July 13, the UN confirmed that 875 Palestinians were killed while searching for 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 latest mass displacement order issued on 20 July, confining Palestinians to less than 12% of Gaza. WFP warns that current conditions make operations unsustainable. Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.

Just outside Gaza, in warehouses - and even inside Gaza - tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelters and fuel lie untouched with humanitarian organizations blocked from accessing or delivering them. The Israeli government's restrictions, delays and fragmentation during its total siege have created chaos, starvation and death.

"Children tell their parents that they want to go to heaven, because at least in heaven there is food."

An aid worker providing psychosocial support tells of the devastating impact on children.

Doctors are reporting record levels of acute malnutrition, especially among children and the elderly. Diseases such as acute watery diarrhea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up and adults are collapsing in the streets from hunger and dehydration. Distribution in Gaza averages just 28 trucks a day, far from enough for over two million people, many of whom have gone weeks without aid.

The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed, it has been prevented from working.

Humanitarian organizations have the capacity and supplies to act on a large scale. But with access denied, we are prevented from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starving teams. On July 10, the EU and Israel announced measures to increase 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 die from preventable diseases. Children starve while waiting for promises that never come.

Palestinians are caught in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for help and a ceasefire, only to wake up to deteriorating conditions. It is not only a physical agony, but also a psychological one. Survival hangs in the air like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot be run on false promises. Humanitarian organizations cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that do not provide access.

Governments must stop waiting for permission to act. We cannot keep hoping 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 border crossings; ensure access for all throughout Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response; and continue funding principled and impartial humanitarian organizations. States must take concrete steps to end the siege, such as stopping the transfer of arms and ammunition.

Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, such as airdrops or flawed aid agreements, 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 Organizations
25. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud (CISS)
26. Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU)
27. DanChurchAid (DCA)
28. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
29. Doctors against Genocide
30. Episcopal Peace Fellowship
31. EuroMed Rights
32. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
33. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V.
34. Gender Action for Peace and Security
35. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
36. Global Witness
37. Health Workers 4 Palestine
38. HelpAge International
39. Humanity & Inclusion (HI)
40. Humanity First UK
41. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
42. Insecurity Insight
43. International Media Support
44. International NGO Safety Organization
45. Islamic Relief
46. Jahalin Solidarity
47. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
48. Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP)
49. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
50. MedGlobal
51. Medico International
52. Medico International Switzerland (medico international schweiz)
53. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
54. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
55. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
56. Médecins du Monde France
57. Médecins du Monde Spain
58. Médecins du Monde Switzerland
59. Mercy Corps
60. Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)
61. Movement for Peace (MPDL)
62. Muslim Aid
63. National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales
64. Nonviolence International
65. Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)
66. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
67. Norwegian People's Aid (NPA)
68. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
69. Oxfam International
70. Pax Christi England and Wales
71. Pax Christi International
72. Pax Christi Merseyside
73. Pax Christi USA
74. Pal Law Commission
75. Palestinian American Medical Association
76. Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)
77. Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)
78. Peace Direct
79. Peace Winds
80. Pediatricians for Palestine
81. People in Need
82. International Plan
83. Primary International Emergency (PIE)
84. Progettomondo
85. Project HOPE
86. Quaker Palestine Israel Network
87. Rebuilding Alliance
88. Refugees International
89. Saferworld
90. Sabeel-Kairos UK
91. Save the Children (SCI)
92. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
93. Solidarités International
94. Support Association The Danish House in Palestine
95. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)
96. Terre des Hommes Italia
97. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
98. Terre des Hommes Netherlands
99. The Borgen Project
100. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)
101. The Glia Project
102. The Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
103. The International Development and Relief Foundation
104. The Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism
105. Un Ponte Per (UPP)
106. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
107. War Child Alliance
108. War Child UK
109. War on Want
110. World Peace Service
111. Welthungerhilfe (WHH)