News Article

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

Published 29th July 2025


More than 100 organisations issue an urgent call to allow humanitarian aid through

As the siege imposed by the Israeli government starves Gaza’s population, humanitarian workers are now lining up at the same food distributions, risking being shot simply for trying to feed their families. With supplies now completely depleted, aid organisations are watching their own staff and partners waste away before their eyes.

Exactly two months after the launch of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—an organisation overseen by the Israeli government—over one hundred organisations are raising the alarm, urging governments to act. They are calling for: the opening of all land crossings; the full restoration of food, clean water, medical supplies, basic essentials and fuel via a UN-led mechanism based on humanitarian principles; an end to the siege; and the implementation of an immediate ceasefire.

“Every morning, the same question echoes across the Gaza Strip: will I eat today?” reported a representative from one of the organisations.

Massacres are occurring on an almost daily basis at food distribution sites in Gaza. As of 13 July, the UN confirmed that 875 Palestinians had been killed while trying to access food—201 of them on aid delivery routes, with the rest at distribution points. Thousands more have been injured.

At the same time, Israeli forces have forcibly displaced nearly two million exhausted people. The most recent mass displacement order, issued on 20 July, has confined the Palestinian population to less than 12% of Gaza’s territory. The World Food Programme warns that current conditions are making operations unmanageable. Starving civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a war crime.

Just outside Gaza, in warehouses, and even within Gaza itself, tonnes of food, drinking water, medical supplies, basic goods, and fuel remain untouched. Humanitarian organisations are being blocked from accessing or distributing them.

The restrictions, delays and fragmentation imposed by the Israeli government under its total siege have created chaos, famine, and death. A humanitarian worker providing psychosocial support described the devastating impact on children: “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least there, there’s food.”

Doctors are reporting record levels of acute malnutrition, especially among children and the elderly. Diseases such as acute diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, rubbish is piling up, and adults are collapsing in the streets from hunger and dehydration. On average, only 28 aid trucks are entering Gaza each day; far from sufficient for over two million people, many of whom have received no aid in weeks.

The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed; it has been prevented from functioning.

Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and resources to respond on a large scale. But with access denied, we are unable to reach those in need, including our own exhausted, starving teams.

On 10 July, the European Union and Israel announced new measures to scale up humanitarian assistance. But these promises of “progress” ring hollow without meaningful change on the ground. Every day without sustained humanitarian aid means more people dying of preventable diseases. Children are starving while waiting for promises that never materialise.

Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and despair, waiting for aid and a ceasefire, only to wake each day to ever-worsening conditions. This is not only physical suffering; it is psychological trauma. Survival feels like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot operate on empty promises. Aid organisations cannot function on shifting timelines or await political commitments that fail to deliver access to the population.

Governments must stop waiting for permission to act. We cannot continue to hope the 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 all people throughout the Gaza Strip; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a humanitarian response led by the UN and grounded in humanitarian principles; and continue funding impartial, principled humanitarian organisations. States must take concrete steps to end the siege, including halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition.

Fragmentary measures and symbolic gestures, such as airdrops or inadequate aid deals, only serve to mask inaction. They cannot replace the legal and moral obligations of states to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful, large-scale access. States can and must save lives—before there are no lives 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/ Doctors of the World
  62. Mercy Corps
  63. Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
  64. Movement for Peace (MPDL)
  65. Muslim Aid
  66. National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales
  67. Nonviolence International
  68. Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)
  69. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
  70. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
  71. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
  72. Oxfam International
  73. Pax Christi England and Wales
  74. Pax Christi International
  75. Pax Christi Merseyside
  76. Pax Christi USA
  77. Pal Law Commission
  78. Palestinian American Medical Association
  79. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
  80. Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)
  81. Peace Direct
  82. Peace Winds
  83. Pediatricians for Palestine
  84. People in Need
  85. Plan International
  86. Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)
  87. Progettomondo
  88. Project HOPE
  89. Quaker Palestine Israel Network
  90. Rebuilding Alliance
  91. Refugees International
  92. Saferworld
  93. Sabeel‑Kairos UK
  94. Save the Children (SCI)
  95. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
  96. Solidarités International
  97. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
  98. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)
  99. Terre des Hommes Italia
  100. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
  101. Terre des Hommes Nederland
  102. The Borgen Project
  103. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)
  104. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
  105. The International Development and Relief Foundation
  106. The Institute for the Understanding of Anti‑Palestinian Racism
  107. Un Ponte Per (UPP)
  108. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
  109. War Child Alliance
  110. War Child UK
  111. War on Want
  112. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.
  113. Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
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