Over 100 aid organizations issued a stark warning on Wednesday, stating that “mass starvation” is rapidly spreading across Gaza. This alert comes ahead of a visit by the top US envoy to Europe for discussions on a potential ceasefire and the establishment of an aid corridor. Israel is currently facing mounting international pressure due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people are grappling with severe shortages of food and other essential supplies after 21 months of conflict.
The UN reported on Tuesday that Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians attempting to access food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations in late May, effectively bypassing the existing UN-led distribution system.
A joint statement, signed by 111 organizations including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children, and Oxfam, cautioned that “our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away.” These groups collectively demanded an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings, and the unimpeded flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms.
This urgent appeal followed a day after the United States announced that its envoy, Steve Witkoff, would travel to Europe this week for talks on Gaza, with a possible subsequent visit to the Middle East. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce informed reporters that Witkoff arrives with “a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to.”
Despite Israel’s easing of a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza’s population continues to suffer from extreme scarcities.
‘Cycle of Hope and Heartbreak’ In their statement, the humanitarian organizations highlighted that warehouses containing tons of vital supplies remain untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, due to blockages preventing access or delivery of goods. “Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions,” the signatories lamented. They added, “It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage.”
The organizations stressed, “The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday described the “horror” confronting Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack as unprecedented in recent years. The head of Gaza’s largest hospital reported on Tuesday that 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory over the past three days alone.
Stalemate in Negotiations Israel and Hamas have been engaged in protracted negotiations in Doha since July 6, with mediators scrambling to bring an end to nearly two years of warfare. However, after more than two weeks of back-and-forth, efforts by the mediating parties—Qatar, Egypt, and the United States—have reached a standstill.
More than two dozen Western countries recently issued a joint plea for an immediate end to the war, asserting that suffering in Gaza had “reached new depths.” According to the health ministry in the besieged territory, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of well over 50,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians.
