International NGO Safety Organisation
INSO, alongside 168 other humanitarian organisations, signed on to the below letter calling for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli aid distribution scheme including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and to lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies.

160+ 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 The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass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.

 

Undersigned:

1. ABCD Bethlehem

2. ACT Alliance

3. Act Church of Sweden

4. Action Against Hunger (ACF)

5. Action Corps

6. ActionAid

7. Age International

8. Agricultural Development Association – PARC

9. Al Ard for Agricultural Development

10. Al-Najd Developmental Forum

11. American Friends Service Committee

12. Amnesty International

13. Amos Trust

14. Anera

15. Anti-Slavery International

16. Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi Bethlehem

17. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz

18. Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM

19. Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI)

20. Association Switzerland Palestine

21. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

22. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

23. Beesan Charitable Association

24. Bimkom – Planning and Human Rights

25. Bisan Center for Research and Development

26. Botswana Watch Organisation

27. Breaking the Silence

28. Broederlijk Delen

29. CADUS e.V.

30. Caritas Germany

31. Caritas International Belgium

32. Caritas Internationalis

33. Caritas Jerusalem

34. Caritas Middle East and North Africa

35. Center of Jewish Nonviolence

36. CESIDA – Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS

37. Children Not Numbers

38. Choose Love

39. Christian Aid

40. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

41. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations

42. CNCD-11.11.11

43. codepink

44. Combatants for Peace

45. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe

46. Congregations of St Joseph

47. COOPERATIVE AGRICULUTAL ASSOCIATION

48. Cordaid

49. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)

50. Coventry Friends of Palestine

51. Cultures of Resistance

52. DanChurchAid

53. Danish Refugee Council

54. DAWN

55. Diakonia

56. Ekō

57. Embrace the Middle East

58. Emmaüs International

59. Entraide et Fraternité

60. Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network

61. EuroMed Rights

62. FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA

63. Friends Committee on National Legislation

64. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

65. Fund for Global Human Rights

66. Fundación Mundubat

67. Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG)

68. Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE)

69. German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO)

70. Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement

71. Glia

72. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

73. Greenpeace

74. HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual

75. Hands for Charity

76. HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)

77. HelpAge International

78. Human Security Collective

79. Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG)

80. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International

81. Humanity Above All

82. INARA

83. Independent Catholic News

84. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

85. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

86. International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO)

87. INTERSOS

88. Islamic Relief Worldwide

89. Jewish Network for Palestine

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

91. Just Foreign Policy

92. Just Treatment

93. Kairos Ireland

94. Kenya Human Rights Commission

95. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

96. Martin Etxea Elkartea

97. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

98. Médecins du Monde International Network

99. Médecins Sans Frontières

100. MedGlobal

101. Medical Aid for Palestinians

102. Medico International

103. medico international schweiz

104. Medicos sin fronteras (MSF – Spain)

105. Mennonite Central Committee

106. Middle East Children’s Alliance

107. Mothers Manifesto

108. MPower Change Action Fund

109. Muslim Aid

110. Mwatana for Human Rights

111. Nonviolent Peaceforce

112. Norwegian Church Aid

113. Norwegian People’s Aid

114. Norwegian Refugee Council

115. Oxfam International

116. Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

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

118. Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA)

119. Parents Against Child Detentions

120. Partners for Palestine

121. Partners for Progressive Israel

122. PAX

123. Pax Christi Australia

124. Pax Christi England and Wales

125. Pax Christi International

126. Pax Christi Italy

127. pax christi Munich

128. Pax Christi Scotland

129. Pax Christi USA

130. Peace Direct

131. Peace Watch Switzerland

132. Penny Appeal Canada

133. Physicians for Human Rights Israel

134. Plan International

135. Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla

136. Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine

137. Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS

138. Première Urgence Internationale

139. Presbyterian Church (USA)

140. Quixote Center

141. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary – NGO

142. ReThinking Foreign Policy

143. Right to Movement

144. Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla

145. Saferworld

146. Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

147. Save the Children

148. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

149. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team

150. Solsoc

151. Stichting Heimat International Foundation

152. STOPAIDS

153. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina

154. Terre Des Hommes International Federation

155. Terre des hommes Lausanne

156. Terres des Hommes Italia

157. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)

158. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK)

159. The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area

160. The Rights Forum

161. Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC

162. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

163. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK

164. US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network

165. Vento di Terra

166. War Child Alliance

167. War on Want

168. Welthungerhilfe

169. Yesh Din