Joint statement on Gaza: Starvation or shooting - this is not a humanitarian response

Oxfam, along with over 170 organizations, is calling for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution system (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, return to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government's blockade of aid and commercial supplies. The 400 aid distribution points that were operational during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by only four military-controlled distribution points, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and being denied other life-saving supplies.

Image from Gaza City taken during the ceasefire in early 2025. Photo: Clémence Lagouardat / Oxfam

Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while desperately trying to feed their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli food distribution program 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 nearly 4,000 injured just trying to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups - some reportedly with the support of Israeli authorities - are now routinely opening fire on desperate civilians who risk everything just to survive.

The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Israeli government's blockade and restrictions, a blockade that is now being used to justify shutting down almost all other aid efforts in favor of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs. These measures are designed to perpetuate a cycle of desperation, danger and death. Experienced humanitarian actors remain ready to deliver life-saving assistance on a large scale. Yet, more than 100 days after Israeli authorities reimposed a near-total blockade of aid and commercial goods, Gaza's humanitarian conditions are collapsing faster than at any point in the last 20 months.

Under the Israeli government's new plan, starving and weakened civilians are forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized, single-entry distribution sites. There, thousands are dropped into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited access to food. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. Orphans and caregivers are among the dead, and children are injured in over half of the attacks on civilians in these places. With Gaza's healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed to death alone, out of reach of ambulances and denied life-saving medical care.

Amid 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 get food often return with just a few basic items - almost impossible to cook without clean water or fuel to cook with. Fuel is almost gone, bringing essential life-saving services - including bakeries, water systems, ambulances and hospitals - to a standstill. Families are taking shelter under plastic sheets and running makeshift kitchens amid the rubble, with no fuel, clean water, sanitation or electricity.

This is not a humanitarian response.

Herding more than two million people into even more restricted areas to have 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 bombing, the weaponization of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement and systematic dehumanization - all in the face 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 continue. States must reject the false choice between lethal, military-controlled food distribution and total denial of aid. States must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks and obstruction of humanitarian assistance. States must ensure accountability for serious violations of international law.

We, the undersigned organizations, once again call on all third countries to:

• Take concrete steps to end the suffocating siege and uphold the right of civilians in Gaza to safely access aid and protection.

• Call on donors not to fund militarized aid programmes that violate international law, do not respect humanitarian principles, deepen harm and risk contributing to atrocities.

• Support the restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination mechanism - grounded in international humanitarian law and including UNRWA, Palestinian civil society and the wider humanitarian community - to address people's needs.

We reiterate our urgent demands for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access on a large scale, and an end to the widespread impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity.

Current signatories include:

1. American Friends Service Committee

2. Amnesty International

3. Anera

4. Bisan Center for Research and Development

5. Fund for Global Human Rights

6. Islamic Relief Worldwide

7. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

8. Médecins du Monde

9. Médecins Sans Frontières

10. MedGlobal

11. Medical Aid for Palestinians

12. Mennonite Central Committee

13. Middle East Children's Alliance

14. Norwegian People's Aid

15. Norwegian Refugee Council

16. Oxfam International

17. Pax Christi International

18. Saferworld

19. Save the Children

20. Terres des Hommes Italia

21. War Child

Background

• On June 15, the Red Cross field hospital in Al Mawasi received at least 170 injured patients while trying to reach a food distribution point. The following day, on 16 June, more than 200 patients arrived at the same facility - the highest number recorded in a single similar incident in Gaza. Of that number, 28 Palestinians were declared dead. A WHO official emphasized the deadly pattern: "Recent food distribution initiatives by non-UN actors result in mass casualties every time."

• These deaths are added to the larger death toll: since October 2023, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children.