Starvation or gunshot: Israel-backed aid system forces Gazans to choose

A coalition of more than 170 international organisations, including Oxfam and Amnesty International, has issued a joint statement condemning the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - an Israel and US-backed aid distribution model.

They called GHF "deadly and dehumanising."

The groups are calling for the scheme to be dismantled and for aid coordination to be returned to United Nations agencies.

The statement describes the current conditions under the GHF as "an impossible choice" for Palestinians in Gaza: “starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families.”

Since the GHF’s rollout, over 500 Palestinians have reportedly been killed and nearly 4,000 injured while attempting to access or distribute food, the NGOs said.

Introduced earlier this year, the GHF replaced more than 400 local aid distribution points - many of which operated during previous temporary ceasefires - with just four centralised, military-controlled locations. The NGOs argue that this shift has drastically reduced access to essential supplies and exposed civilians to further violence.

“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, militarised distribution sites with a single entry point,” the statement reads.

These distribution zones, according to the NGOs, have become “sites of repeated massacres” and are run in “blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.”

The coalition warns that “this is not a humanitarian response,” noting that many families are now too frail to compete for basic food supplies. The groups denounce the model as normalising suffering and violating international norms.

“This normalisation of suffering must not be allowed to stand,” the NGOs asserted. “States must reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid.”

The statement also calls on states to uphold their legal obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law—including the prohibition of forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and the obstruction of humanitarian aid—and to hold accountable those responsible for grave violations.

UN leaders have echoed these concerns.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, shared the NGOs' statement and commented, “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.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently condemned the GHF as “inherently unsafe” and said plainly, “It is killing people.”