In Gaza today, hunger has become a death sentence. Starving civilians are being systematically targeted and killed as they attempt to reach food.  

People already enduring siege, displacement, and bombardment are now being targeted and killed at Israeli and US-operated, so called, “aid distribution sites” (known publicly as the GHF). This manufactured choice they face is purposely cruel: starve to death, or risk being shot for seeking survival.  

We are horrified by mounting reports that these Israeli-US operated “aid sites”, under the guise of humanitarian relief, have become a tool of warfare. Palestinians are being funnelled into militarised “aid distribution zones”, then shot and shelled with shocking regularity. 

In the month since this plan began operating on 27 May, more than 500 people have been killed while trying to access food, and at least 4,000 others have been injured. 

Along with other humanitarian organisations, we have warned repeatedly that this mechanism is a dangerous and politicised sham. Today, that is no longer a warning. It is a documented fact. Israeli-US operated “aid sites” are scenes of systemic brutality. Aid seekers are not just being turned away. They are being targeted. 

A militarised system of atrocities  

The Israeli-US operated “aid sites” are not a mechanism for aid, but a system of military control. It replaces independent, impartial humanitarian operations with a structure designed to serve the Israeli government’s political and military objectives.  

Israeli-US operated “aid sites” operate exclusively through Israeli-controlled crossings, within Israeli-imposed zones, and under the authority of Israeli military forces. This is not the facilitation of aid. It is the extension of Israeli occupation.  

How these sites function is public knowledge: armed escorts, biometric scanning, military surveillance, and targeting of civilians. Just today, it was reported that IDF officers and soldiers were instructed to shoot deliberately at unarmed Palestinians waiting for food – even when no threat was present. 

This is not a failure of coordination. It is a strategy of deprivation, a direct violation of international humanitarian law, and collapse of the most basic principles of humanity. 

US Complicity: Legitimising a Tool of Atrocity  

In this context, the U.S. government’s recent decision to approve $30 million in funding for this scheme is not only abhorrent—it is a political endorsement of a system that enables indiscriminate killing and violates the most basic tenets of international humanitarian law.  

Rather than supporting established, impartial, and coordinated aid efforts, the U.S. is financing a militarised model controlled by the same forces that have besieged Gaza, attacked UN facilities, and obstructed aid access at every turn. 

The UK cannot look away 

The UK Government has stated that “Israel must immediately allow the UN and aid partners to safely deliver all types of aid at scale across Gaza.” But as the death toll climbs at Israeli-US operated “aid sites” - and as the U.S. continues to bankroll their operations - we ask: will the UK remain silent, or will it act? 

We call on the UK Government to: 

• Stop arming Israel; 

• Use all diplomatic and trade channels to demand the reopening of non-Israeli controlled land crossings, and to ensure immediate and unfettered entry and distribution of principled humanitarian aid; 

• Publicly condemn the Israeli-US operated “aid sites” and those who support them; 

• Support an independent, international investigation into grave violations of international law, including the systematic targeting of civilians and the deliberate denial of humanitarian aid 

The UK government stands at a crossroads: act now, uphold international law, and attempt to claw back what little remains of its bloodstained reputation, or continue to commit to a policy of complicity in atrocities, war crimes, and genocide.

For media enquiries:

Action For Humanity: Jake Marais can be reached at Jacob.marais@actionforhumanity.org or 07597 486 270