As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, more than 100 humanitarian organizations have issued an urgent call to governments worldwide to end the Israeli-imposed siege and allow for unrestricted delivery of life-saving aid.
Humanitarian workers, once the providers of aid, are now standing in lines for food aid alongside the communities they serve. This is not because the UN-led humanitarian system failed, but because it has been prevented from functioning. Medical supplies, food, clean water, and fuel sit idle in warehouses as humanitarian organizations are blocked from accessing or distributing them, while conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.
“Each morning, the same question echoes across Gaza: Will I eat today?” said one agency representative.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—a mechanism controlled by the Israeli government—began operations two months ago. The United Nations confirms that at least 875 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food, including 201 on aid routes. Deaths at distribution sites occur nearly every day.
Doctors report unprecedented rates of acute malnutrition, particularly among children and the elderly. 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.” The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime and must be prevented.
Despite recent pledges from the EU and Israel to scale up aid, on-the-ground realities remain unchanged. Aid trucks entering Gaza average just 28 per day—woefully insufficient for over two million people in urgent need. With nearly two million Palestinians displaced and confined to less than 12% of Gaza, the World Food Program now warns that humanitarian operations are “untenable.”
It is time for governments 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 organizations. States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition.
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. 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 Organisation
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. Plan International
83. Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)
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. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
95. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)
96. Terre des Hommes Italia
97. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
98. Terre des Hommes Nederland
99. The Borgen Project
100. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)
101. The Glia Project
102. The Global Centre 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. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.
111. Welthungerhilfe (WHH
