Embrace joins 170 charities calling for a return to UN-led aid distribution in Gaza

Embrace the Middle East has joined with NGOs from across the world in calling for the Israeli aid distribution scheme in Gaza to revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms and urging all third states to take concrete measures to uphold the right of civilians in Gaza to safely access aid and receive protection. 

Since the new aid distribution scheme has been introduced, over 500 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid and over 4,000 injured.

The full statement can be read below. The list of signatories is still growing, with over 170 NGOs signing so far.

GAZA: Starvation or Gunfire -  This is Not a Humanitarian Response

NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies.

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. 

In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured just trying to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups - some reportedly operating with backing from Israeli authorities - now routinely open fire on desperate civilians risking everything just to survive.

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

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. Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites. With Gaza's healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care. 

Amidst 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 obtain food often return with only a few basic items - nearly impossible to prepare without clean water or fuel to cook with. Fuel is nearly depleted, bringing critical lifesaving services – including bakeries, water systems, ambulances, and hospitals – to a standstill. Families are sheltering under plastic sheets, operating makeshift kitchens amid the rubble, without fuel, clean water, sanitation, or electricity. 

This is not a humanitarian response.

Concentrating more than two million people into further confined areas for 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 bombardment, the weaponization of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanization - all under the watch 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 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. 

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

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

• Urge donors not to fund militarized aid schemes that violate international law, do not adhere to humanitarian principles, deepen harm, and risk complicity in atrocities. 

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

We reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the pervasive impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity. 

Editor’s Note

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

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

 

Signatories

International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), Palestine

INTERSOS, Italy

Islamic Relief Worldwide, UK

Jewish Network for Palestine, UK

Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP, Switzerland

Just Foreign Policy, USA

Just Treatment, UK

Kairos Ireland, Ireland

Kenya Human Rights Commission, Nairobi-Kenya

Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, Sweden

Martin Etxea Elkartea, Spain

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, USA

Médecins du Monde International Network, France

Médecins Sans Frontières, France

MedGlobal, USA

Medical Aid for Palestinians, UK

Medico International, Germany

medico international schweiz, Switzerland

Medicos sin fronteras (MSF - Spain), Spain

Mennonite Central Committee , USA

Middle East Children’s Alliance, USA

Mothers Manifesto, UK

MPower Change Action Fund, USA

Muslim Aid, UK

Mwatana for Human Rights, Yemen

Nonviolent Peaceforce, Switzerland

Norwegian Church Aid, Norway

Norwegian People’s Aid, Norway

Norwegian Refugee Council, Norway

Oxfam International, UK

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), USA

Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), USA

Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA), USA

Parents Against Child Detentions, Israel

Partners for Palestine, USA

Partners for Progressive Israel, USA

PAX, The Netherlands

Pax Christi Australia, Australia

Pax Christi England and Wales, England

Pax Christi International, Global

Pax Christi Italy, Italy

pax christi Munich, Germany, Bavaria

Pax Christi Scotland, Scotland

Pax Christi USA, USA

Peace Direct, UK

Peace Watch Switzerland, Switzerland

Penny Appeal Canada, Canada

Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Israel-Palestine

Plan International, UK

Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla, Spain

Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine, France

Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS, Poland

Première Urgence Internationale, France

Presbyterian Church (USA), USA

Quixote Center, USA

Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary – NGO, Global

ReThinking Foreign Policy, USA

Right to Movement, Palestine

Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla, Spain

Saferworld, UK

Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Canada

Save the Children, UK

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Scotland

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team, USA

Solsoc, Belgium

Stichting Heimat International Foundation, The Netherlands

STOPAIDS, UK

Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina, Denmark

Terre Des Hommes International Federation, Switzerland

Terre des hommes Lausanne, Switzerland

Terres des Hommes Italia, Italy

The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET), Jordan

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK), UK

The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area, USA

The Rights Forum, The Netherlands

Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC, Palestine

United Against Inhumanity (UAI), France

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK, UK

US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network, USA

Vento di Terra, Italy

War Child Alliance, UK

War on Want, UK

Welthungerhilfe, Germany

Yesh Din, Israel

ABCD Bethlehem, UK

ACT Alliance, Global

Act Church of Sweden  Sweden

Action Against Hunger (ACF), Spain

Action Corps, USA

ActionAid, South Africa

Age International, UK

Agricultural Development Association – PARC, Palestine

Al Ard for Agricultural Development, Palestine

Al-Najd Developmental Forum Palestine, Gaza Strip

American Friends Service Committee, USA

Amnesty International, Global

Amos Trust, United Kingdom

Anera, USA

Anti-Slavery International, United Kingdom

Arab Educational Institute - Pax Christi Bethlehem, Palestine

Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz, Spain

Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM, Spain

Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI), Israel

Association Switzerland Palestine, Switzerland

B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Israel

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Palestine

Beesan Charitable Association, Palestine / Gaza

Bimkom - Planning and Human Rights, Jerusalem

Bisan Center for Research and Development, Palestine

Botswana Watch Organisation, Botswana

Breaking the Silence, Israel

Broederlijk Delen, Belgium

CADUS e.V., Germany

Caritas Germany, Germany

Caritas International Belgium, Belgium

Caritas Internationalis, Vatican City

Caritas Jerusalem, Vatican

Caritas Middle East and North Africa, Lebanon

Center of Jewish Nonviolence, USA

CESIDA - Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS., Spain

Children Not Numbers, UK

Choose Love, UK

Christian Aid, UK

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), USA

CIDSE - International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations, International

CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium

Codepink, USA

Combatants for Peace, Palestine & Israel

Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe, Spain

Congregations of St Joseph, USA

Cooperative Agriculutal Association, Gaza-Palestine

Cordaid, The Netherlands

Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), UK

Coventry Friends of Palestine, UK

Cultures of Resistance, USA

DanChurchAid, Denmark

Danish Refugee Council, Denmark

DAWN, USA

Diakonia, Sweden

Ekō, Global

Embrace the Middle East, UK

Emmaüs International, France

Entraide et Fraternité, Belgium

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network, USA

EuroMed Rights, Denmark

FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA, Spain

Friends Committee on National Legislation, USA

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), USA

Fund for Global Human Rights, UK

Fundación Mundubat Basque Country, Spain

Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG), Palestine - Gaza Strip

Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE), Palestine

German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO), Germany

Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Israel

Glia, Canada

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P), USA

Greenpeace, UK

HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Israel

Hands for Charity, Canada

HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid), Switzerland

HelpAge International, UK

Human Security Collective, The Netherlands

Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG), France

Humanity & Inclusion - Handicap International, France

Humanity Above All, USA

INARA, USA

Independent Catholic News, UK

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, USA

International Federation for Human Rights  (FIDH), France