Gaza

As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, Catholic aid agencies call for decisive action

CAFOD, the Church’s overseas aid and development agency, alongside 115 organisations including Caritas Internationalis, other country and regional Caritas charities, Pax Christi, and more, have signed a joint letter calling for “decisive action” to bring an end to the humanitarian disaster playing out in Gaza.

The charities demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; the lifting of all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; all land crossings to be opened; to ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; the rejection of military-controlled distribution models; the restoration of a principled, UN-led humanitarian response; and the continued funding of principled and impartial humanitarian organisations.

How can I respond?

Donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal
Millions across the Middle East have fled their homes in search of safety. They urgently need shelter, food and basic supplies. Donate to CAFOD’s campaign here.

They write:

“Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction. They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.”

Full Letter

As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.

Exactly two months since the Israeli government-controlled scheme, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began operating, more than 100 organisations are sounding the alarm, urging governments to act: open all land crossings; restore the full flow of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel through a principled, UN-led mechanism; end the siege; and agree to a ceasefire now.

“Each morning, the same question echoes across Gaza: will I eat today?” said one agency representative.

Massacres at food distribution sites in Gaza are occurring near-daily. As of 13 July, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points. Thousands more have been injured. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have forcibly displaced nearly 2 million exhausted Palestinians with the most recent mass displacement order issued on 20 July, confining Palestinians to less than 12 per cent of Gaza. WFP warns that current conditions make operations untenable. The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.

Just outside Gaza, in warehouses – and even within Gaza itself – tonnes of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them. The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation and death. 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.”

Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people. Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration. Distributions in Gaza average just 28 trucks a day, far from enough for over 2 million people, many of whom have gone weeks without assistance.

The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed. It has been prevented from functioning.

Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and supplies to respond at scale. But, with access denied, we are blocked from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starved teams. On 10 July, the EU and Israel announced steps to scale up aid. But these promises of ‘progress’ ring hollow when there is no real change on the ground. Every day without a sustained flow means more people dying of preventable illnesses. Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive.

Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.

Governments must stop waiting for permission to act. We cannot continue to hope that current arrangements will work. It is time 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 organisations. States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition.

Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction. They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.

How can I respond?

Donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal
Millions across the Middle East have fled their homes in search of safety. They urgently need shelter, food and basic supplies. Donate to CAFOD’s campaign here.

Pray with us for peace
Join CAFOD in prayer by adding your name as a sign of your prayers, which will be shared in solidarity with CAFOD’s partners who are responding to this humanitarian crisis. Join here.

Resources for parishes
Find out how your parish can support the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
More information.

Signatories

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

A.M. Qattan Foundation

A New Policy

ACT Alliance

Action Against Hunger (ACF)

Action for Humanity

ActionAid International

American Baptist Churches Palestine Justice Network

Amnesty International

Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz

Associazione Cooperazione e Solidarietà (ACS)

Bystanders No More

Campain

CARE

Caritas Germany

Caritas Internationalis

Caritas Jerusalem

Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)

Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)

CESVI Fondazione

Children Not Numbers

Christian Aid

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

CIDSE- International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations

Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud (CISS)

Council for Arab‐British Understanding (CAABU)

DanChurchAid (DCA)

Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Development and Peace – Caritas Canada

Doctors against Genocide

Episcopal Peace Fellowship

EuroMed Rights

Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V.

Gender Action for Peace and Security

Glia

Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)

Global Witness

Health Workers 4 Palestine

HelpAge International

Human Concern International

Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

Humanity First UK

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

Insecurity Insight

International Media Support

International NGO Safety Organisation

Islamic Relief

Jahalin Solidarity

Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

Justice for All

Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP)

Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

MedGlobal

Medico International

Medico International Switzerland (medico international schweiz)

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

Medicine for the People – Belgium (MPLP/GVHV)

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Médecins du Monde France

Médecins du Monde Spain

Médecins du Monde Switzerland

Mercy Corps

Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

Movement for Peace (MPDL)

Muslim Aid

National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales

Nonviolence International

Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)

Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

Oxfam International

Pax Christi England and Wales

Pax Christi International

Pax Christi Merseyside

Pax Christi USA

Pal Law Commission

Palestinian American Medical Association

Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)

Peace Direct

Peace Winds

Pediatricians for Palestine

People in Need

Plan International

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)

Progettomondo

Project HOPE

Quaker Palestine Israel Network

Rebuilding Alliance

Refugees International

Saferworld

Sabeel‐Kairos UK

Save the Children (SCI)

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

Solidarités International

Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina

Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)

Terre des Hommes Italia

Terre des Hommes Lausanne

Terre des Hommes Nederland

The Borgen Project

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)

The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

The International Development and Relief Foundation

The Institute for the Understanding of Anti‐Palestinian Racism

Un Ponte Per (UPP)

United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

War Child Alliance

War Child UK

War on Want

Weltfriedensdienst e.V.

Welthungerhilfe (WHH)