'Deadly, Military-Controlled': Over 170 International NGOs Call For End of Israel, US-Backed Gaza Aid Scheme
People in Gaza collect food and essentials at an aid distribution site near Rafah on June 5, 2025. Photo: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
New Delhi: More than 170 other organisations, including Oxfam and Amnesty International, have called for an immediate end to the US and Israel-backed distribution scheme, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), accusing it of facilitating starvation and attacks on the people of Gaza.
They have demanded a return to UN-led coordination, and the lifting of the brutal blockade on Gaza.
In a joint statement, the NGOs said, 'Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023,' they said.
They highlighted that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 were injured while desperately trying to access or distribute food. Two million people are forced into overcrowded, militarised zones where Israeli forces and armed groups, allegedly backed by Israeli authorities, now 'routinely' open fire on desperate civilians trying to access food and other life-saving supplies.
Notably, since its launch earlier this year, the GHF has replaced over 400 aid distribution points that were operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza with just four military-controlled, centralised sites.
'Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point. There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law,' the statement read.
'Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations,' the charities wrote, insisting that 'This is not a humanitarian response.'
'This normalization of suffering must not be allowed to stand. States must reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid. States must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and obstruction of humanitarian aid. States must ensure accountability for grave violations of international law,' the statement read.
The joint statement has been backed by UN agencies and other humanitarian leaders, who have also previously criticised the GHF model. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA shared the statement by the NGOs, saying, 'The humanitarian community calls for an end to the so called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" (GHF) since it provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of #Gaza.'
The humanitarian community calls for an end to the so called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" (GHF) since it provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of #Gaza.
Since this scheme began, at least 500 starving people have been reported killed and nearly 4,000 injured… https://t.co/raeAjzH2tj
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 1, 2025
Last week, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, while reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire, labelled the GHF as 'inherently unsafe,' further assessing, 'It is killing people.'
According to a Reuters report, Israel and the US want the UN to work through the GHF but the UN has refused, accusing it of militarising aid and forcing displacement.
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