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More than 100 organisations are sounding the alarm to allow lifesaving aid into Gaza

JOINT STATEMENT

“As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away.” 

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, Oxfam and 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 July 13, 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 two million exhausted Palestinians with the most recent mass displacement order issued on July 20, 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 – tons 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 two 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 July 10, 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. 

Signatories:  

  1. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
  2. A.M. Qattan Foundation
  3. A New Policy
  4. ACT Alliance
  5. Action Against Hunger (ACF)
  6. Action for Humanity
  7. ActionAid International
  8. American Baptist Churches Palestine Justice Network
  9. Amnesty International
  10. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz
  11. Associazione Cooperazione e Solidarietà (ACS)
  12. Bystanders No More
  13. Campain
  14. CARE
  15. Caritas Germany
  16. Caritas Internationalis
  17. Caritas Jerusalem
  18. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)
  19. Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)
  20. CESVI Fondazione
  21. Children Not Numbers
  22. Christian Aid
  23. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
  24. CIDSE- International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
  25. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud (CISS)
  26. Council for Arab‑British Understanding (CAABU)
  27. DanChurchAid (DCA)
  28. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
  29. Doctors against Genocide
  30. Episcopal Peace Fellowship
  31. EuroMed Rights
  32. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
  33. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V.
  34. Gender Action for Peace and Security
  35. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
  36. Global Witness
  37. Health Workers 4 Palestine
  38. HelpAge International
  39. Humanity & Inclusion (HI)
  40. Humanity First UK
  41. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
  42. Insecurity Insight
  43. International Media Support
  44. International NGO Safety Organisation
  45. Islamic Relief
  46. Jahalin Solidarity
  47. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
  48. Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP)
  49. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
  50. MedGlobal
  51. Medico International
  52. Medico International Switzerland (medico international schweiz)
  53. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
  54. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
  55. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
  56. Médecins du Monde France
  57. Médecins du Monde Spain
  58. Médecins du Monde Switzerland
  59. Mercy Corps
  60. Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
  61. Movement for Peace (MPDL)
  62. Muslim Aid
  63. National Justice and Peace Network in England and Wales
  64. Nonviolence International
  65. Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC)
  66. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
  67. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
  68. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
  69. Oxfam International
  70. Pax Christi England and Wales
  71. Pax Christi International
  72. Pax Christi Merseyside
  73. Pax Christi USA
  74. Pal Law Commission
  75. Palestinian American Medical Association
  76. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
  77. Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)
  78. Peace Direct
  79. Peace Winds
  80. Pediatricians for Palestine
  81. People in Need
  82. Plan International
  83. Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)
  84. Progettomondo
  85. Project HOPE
  86. Quaker Palestine Israel Network
  87. Rebuilding Alliance
  88. Refugees International
  89. Saferworld
  90. Sabeel‑Kairos UK
  91. Save the Children (SCI)
  92. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
  93. Solidarités International
  94. Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina
  95. Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)
  96. Terre des Hommes Italia
  97. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
  98. Terre des Hommes Nederland
  99. The Borgen Project
  100. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM)
  101. The Glia Project
  102. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
  103. The International Development and Relief Foundation
  104. The Institute for the Understanding of Anti‑Palestinian Racism
  105. Un Ponte Per (UPP)
  106. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
  107. War Child Alliance
  108. War Child UK
  109. War on Want
  110. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.
  111. Welthungerhilfe (WHH)

Contact information:

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact [email protected]

Disease ripping through Gaza as Israeli military continues to deliberately block aid

Deadly diseases are now ripping through Gaza even as millions of dollars’ worth of humanitarian aid piles up in warehouses across the region, says Oxfam. 

Water-borne diseases that are both preventable and readily treatable have increased by almost 150% inside Gaza over the past three months as Israel continues to deliberately block aid. 

Available multi-agency health data shows that the numbers of Palestinians presenting to health facilities with acute watery diarrhea have increased by 150 per cent, bloody diarrhea by 302 per cent, and acute jaundice cases by 101 per cent. 

Even these figures will be grossly under-reported because most of the two million people trapped by Israel’s continuing siege have little access to the few healthcare facilities that have managed to keep operating. 

This surge of disease can quickly turn deadly especially as Palestinians living in Gaza have been deprived of enough food, water, shelter, and adequate healthcare for over 21 months. Their community and family networks have been shattered, and people made more vulnerable by repeated forced mass displacements and continuing violence. 

Israel has put Gaza under a near total blockade since March 2 of this year stopping all but a trickle of aid. There are no longer any humanitarian aid reserves held by international agencies inside of Gaza.

As a result, international humanitarian donors and agencies have been forced to accumulate more than 420,000 pallets of aid that now sit in limbo inside warehouses across the regions. This covers an area of around 75 hectares, or enough to cover 101 football fields.

This aid includes shelters, food and supplements to combat malnutrition, and water equipment, sanitation items and medicines that would be vital to tackle diseases and   

Oxfam alone has over 110,000 items of humanitarian aid in one warehouse including water bladders and tanks, hygiene, dignity and water testing kits, food parcels, soap, nappies, pipes and latrine slabs. 

Oxfam is waiting for clearances and permissions to enter, however the Israeli authorities have recently denied water and sanitation items and food parcels. 

Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel policy lead, said that time is running out to prevent an epidemic across Gaza and the mass death that would inevitably result. 

“The conditions that Palestinians in Gaza are being forced to endure have created a petri dish for disease. These are diseases that thrive where people lack water – clean or otherwise – and are stuck in over-crowded unsanitary environments with almost no food,”  Khalidi said.  

“There is a grim and deliberate inevitability as to what Israel has created in Gaza. Each day that its siege continues and it denies aid, starvation becomes increasingly widespread and human deaths from entirely preventable diseases becomes an absolute certainty.” 

“As Gaza bakes in the summer sun and the hottest month of the year looms, it is increasingly urgent that Israel’s siege must end. It is shameful Israel has been allowed to besiege Gaza and create this catastrophe. Nothing other than complete access to Gaza to deliver aid at scale can alleviate the conditions that people have been forced to live in.” 

“Each day we wait for a ceasefire, more lives are lost through violence, hunger and disease. Palestinians in Gaza cannot wait a day longer for this hell to end. There must be a full and complete ceasefire, and all required aid must be able to enter via all crossings into Gaza so that Palestinians can finally begin to recover and rebuild.” 

Notes to editors

  • Health data is drawn from Gaza health cluster data epidemiology on WASH related disease trends March-June 2025 
  • Calculation of aid pallets based on Palestine logistics cluster data 
  • Oxfam has aid waiting for clearance in warehouses in Jordan and in Egypt. 

Contact information

For more information and for interviews, please contact:

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa | [email protected] or

Oxfam Media office | [email protected]   

Jacqui Crocoran | Oxfam Media Lead in Jerusalem, Occupied Palestinian Territory |  [email protected]

International Court of Justice climate ruling a powerful tool for holding countries to account

The International Court of Justice has ruled that governments must phase out fossil fuels, rapidly reduce emissions, provide remedy to those facing climate damages and provide climate finance to developing countries.  

Ilisapeci Masivesi, Director Programmes, Impact and Partnerships at Oxfam in the Pacific said:

 “There are many Pacific Islanders who feel incredibly optimistic today. Not just because this ruling from the International Court of Justice is going to set the benchmark for future climate issues but also because this moment is proof that when people mobilise as a collective, they can do anything.

I’m sure there are many who would have thought that a group of young Pacific Islanders wouldn’t be able to take this campaign all the way to the International Court of Justice, but today’s historic ruling changes that and is a reminder to young people all over the world that we can hold big polluters to account in our fight for the phaseout of fossil fuels, a just energy transition and fair climate financing for all.” 

Oxfam climate change policy lead Nafkote Dabi said:  

“Oxfam is proud to have supported young climate defenders from the Pacific and elsewhere who bravely took their fight for justice from a classroom in Vanuatu to the world’s highest court. They won the world a tremendous victory today.   

This ruling elevates national climate commitments everywhere by confirming that countries must reduce emissions enough to protect the universal rights to life, food, health and a clean environment. All countries, particularly rich ones, now have to cut their emissions faster and phase out fossil fuels. Rich countries have to increase their financing to Global South countries to help them reduce emissions and protect their people from past and future harm. This is not a wish-list – it is international law.  

We now have a powerful tool for holding countries to account for their obligations, especially in protecting the world’s most marginalised people and future generations of humanity. The ICJ rejected arguments by the likes of the US and UK that governments are bound only by climate treaties such as the Paris Agreement and did not have stronger obligations under international law. This ruling will inject new impetus into negotiations at the COP30 Summit in Brazil this November.” 

Oxfam Aotearoa climate justice lead Nick Henry said: 

“Today’s ruling is a stunning rebuke to the rich countries, including New Zealand, who are failing to stop harm to our climate. It is a victory for a people-powered campaign started by Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, gaining support from Pacific leaders and allies around the world.  

The New Zealand government provided early support to the campaign and co-sponsored the UN resolution that referred the case to the ICJ. But in its submissions to the court, New Zealand argued that human rights law is not relevant to climate change and that governments don’t have climate obligations beyond the existing Paris Agreement. 

The world’s highest court has rejected the New Zealand government’s arguments and ruled that the international treaties on human rights and the environment create binding obligations to prevent harm to the climate.  

This means that New Zealand must do more to reduce emissions and increase funding for climate action in the Pacific.” 

Notes to editors:  

Oxfam has been supporting the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change’s lawsuit since 2022, joining in advocacy for the UN General Assembly to refer the case to the Court. Oxfam provided a written statement to the ICJ in March 2024 on human rights obligations beyond borders and what this means for climate action. Oxfam also contributed to an expert legal opinion that was referenced in several State submissions, the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations.  

Contact information: 

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communications, Media & Advocacy:  [email protected]

Not Everyone Is In The Same Boat

Oxfam has published a new report: “Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat: Climate Change and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa”

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. But while the impacts of climate change are widespread, they’re not felt equally. The richest individuals and fossil fuel economies are driving emissions at staggering rates, while the poorest communities are left to face the worst consequences with the fewest resources to adapt.

Oxfam’s new report lays bare the scale of inequality across MENA. It shows how climate breakdown is deepening poverty, straining public services, and hitting women, refugees, and low-income workers hardest. Meanwhile, decades of austerity have left governments unable to invest in the kind of climate action that builds resilience and protects lives.

The report also highlights how the ultra-rich in MENA are not just high emitters. They also hold disproportionate power over climate and economic policy. Their wealth and influence allow them to shield themselves from the worst impacts while continuing to profit from polluting industries. In contrast, those with the least are left exposed, with little say in decisions that affect their futures.

Climate finance is another major concern. Despite growing needs, funding is often inaccessible, poorly tracked, and rarely prioritises gender equality or grassroots resilience. Without urgent reform, climate finance risks reinforcing the very inequalities it should be addressing.

Oxfam is calling for bold action: tax the wealthiest, end austerity, and invest in public services and climate solutions that put people first. The report also urges international donors and institutions to take responsibility, not just by increasing climate finance, but by ensuring it reaches those most affected and supports locally led solutions.

This is not just a regional issue. The climate crisis in MENA reflects a global pattern where those who contribute the least suffer the most. If wealthy governments and institutions continue to look the other way, they risk enabling a system that rewards pollution and punishes poverty.

Climate justice in MENA is not only about reducing emissions. It is about fairness, accountability, and making sure no one is left behind.

Read the report here

Gaza: Starvation or gunfire — not a humanitarian response

 JOINT STATEMENT

Oxfam and over 100 other NGOs operating in Gaza 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. 

The signatories include:

1.     American Friends Service Committee

2.     Amnesty International

3.     Anera 

4.     Bisan Center for Research and Development 

5.     Fund for Global Human Rights

6.     Islamic Relief Worldwide

7.     Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

8.     Médecins du Monde

9.     Médecins Sans Frontières

10. MedGlobal 

11. Medical Aid for Palestinians 

12. Mennonite Central Committee 

13. Middle East Children’s Alliance

14. Norwegian People’s Aid

15. Norwegian Refugee Council 

16. Oxfam International 

17. Pax Christi International 

18. Saferworld  

19. Save the Children

20. Terres des Hommes Italia

21. War Child 

Notes to editors

  • Please see the full list of signatories here 

  • 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.
     

Contact information

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, not Oligarchy

Oxfam has published a new briefing paper: “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy”

Wealthy governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving development aid since aid records began in 1960. Oxfam analysis finds that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28% for 2026 compared to 2024. Whilst critical aid is cut, the debt crisis is bankrupting governments – 60% of low-income countries are at the edge of a debt crisis – with the poorest countries paying out far more to repay their rich creditors than they are able to spend on classrooms or clinics. Only 16% of the targets for the Global Goals are on track for 2030. 

Oxfam’s new analysis examines the failures of a private investor-focused approach to funding development. A decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission as one of supporting powerful Global North financial actors has led in fact to a host of harms and at the same time only mobilized paltry sums. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors, who now outpace bilateral lenders by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low- and middle-income countries, in exacerbating the debt crisis with their refusal to negotiate and their punitive terms. 

Read report here.