Mass Starvation in Gaza
And what will the world do about it?
In the last week the United States and Israel have launched a new food distribution program in Gaza called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. I will refer to this as the GHF for the rest of this piece for the sake of simplicity.
The GHF has come under strong criticism by the United Nations and other global humanitarian agencies since its formation. It seems to be a collateral agreement between the U.S. and Israel as to how food distribution will be run in Gaza from this point forward. Critics are noting that the GHF is managed and operated by private U.S. armed contractors who do not have experience with distribution of the enormous amounts of needed aid in the region. The food distribution centers are staffed by American soldiers who may have served in prior wars. This agreement with Israel has also included that Israeli soldiers will not be a part of the food distribution process. However, they will be setting up their military to secure the perimeters. It is noteworthy that the person initially appointed to lead the GHF resigned before the efforts even got underway. He stated that he did not think the organization would be able to deliver aid properly. And as of today the Boston Consulting Group which is the U.S. contractor that was set up to run the GHF in Gaza has pulled out of the operation as well. The consulting group has already terminated their contract with the GHF.
Currently the criticisms of the GHF seem to be well founded. Previously many humanitarian agencies had been tasked with delivering aid to the Palestinian people. One of the most prominent was UNRWA. UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. UNRWA has supported Palestinians since around 1948 when Palestinians became refugees after war. In 2019 upwards of 5.6 million Palestinians were registered as UNRWA refugees. It has employed over 30,000 people over the years. UNRWA helps those in need with education, health care and social services. It has over the years operated in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, UNRWA faced accusations from Israel that 12 of its 30,000 employees were involved with the attack by Hamas. This led to Israel passing a bill in the Fall of 2024 which designated UNRWA as a terrorist group and prohibited it from operating within the country.
Humanitarian agencies such as UNRWA and others warned of possible catastrophe when looking at the GHF plan for food distribution. Currently 80% of the Gaza strip is militarized. This leaves on 19% of the land which has been designated as safe for the Palestinians to “live”. When we say live it should be noted that most Palestinians have been uprooted 12 to 15 times since the start of the war in October of 2023. The majority of people are currently living in tents. And prior to the start of the war, Gaza was one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Prior to the war there were around 5500 people per square kilometer in Gaza. Currently it is estimated that there are 33,000 people per square kilometer. And these masses of people have been deprived of basic necessities for over 80 days now. Since around the beginning of March of 2025, Israel has denied all aid going into Gaza. Two million or more Palestinians are facing possible starvation as there has been a blockade of food for almost 3 months now. Other shortages include clean drinking water, medications, surgical supplies, antibiotics and sanitary living conditions.
UNRWA had about 400 distribution sites for aid alone. GHF has four. UNRWA also had an estimated 12,000 workers in the Gaza strip who were well versed on how to dispense aid to areas of catastrophic need. The leader of the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees has pointed out that there was no need for an entirely new system. However, the Netanyahu government has claimed that the current system is not working. They have repeatedly accused Hamas of stealing food and aid. Per UN leaders, healthcare workers, and other humanitarian aid agencies on the ground who are familiar with the area, Israel’s accusations are unfounded. These groups have gone on record stating there simply is no massive stealing of food by Hamas. Jonathan Fowler, Senior Communications Manager for UNRWA, estimated that over 500 trucks per day full of aid are needed to start addressing the currently, dire situation the Palestinians are facing. The initial goal of the GHF was to deliver about 170 trucks of supplies per day. But even this smaller goal seems to have gone terribly awry.
The GHF has been announcing the distribution of food at any of the limited sites via text or messaging apps or word of mouth. This has resulted in thousands of Palestinians walking many kilometers to get to one of the few distribution sites just to get a food parcel for their family. A parcel holds some flour, fava beans, biscuits, and pasta. This food is supposed to sustain an already starving family of 5 for about 3 days. And many people are too elderly or disabled to even walk the distance to obtain the food.
Somewhat predictably, asking 1000s of starving people to walk many kilometers for food and be forced into caged pens before receiving rations has not turned out to be a very successful plan. Palestinians are asked to show identification. Some of them have been accused of being Hamas operatives, and they have not come back to their families. Presumably they have been detained. And amid the chaos, armed mercenaries have shot into the air. Since the start of the GHF disaster there was one day when shots were fired into the crowd that left 30 dead and 120 injured. This morning another such incident happened where 27 people were killed and 90 injured. Hospital workers have noted that these injuries are gunshot wounds. They are not injuries from collapsing buildings, burning rubble or bombs. Israel put out a video alleging that Palestinians had been shot by Hamas. However, this video was later proven to be an unaffiliated group who was not even in the Rafah area where these shootings occurred.
Hospitals are overwhelmed to say the least. Here are some startling statistics. Since the start of this war, an estimated 1400 health care workers have been killed. As well 94% of the hospitals have been destroyed. I also read sources which stated that many physicians and nurses have been arrested. The healthcare workers that remain, state that the medication supplies are limited as well as surgical supplies, wound care treatments, antibiotics, and even formula for malnourished babies. An estimated 400 babies have been killed since the start of the war. Around 60 children have died of starvation since the aid blockade started in March. Thousands more are at risk. And UNICEF estimated 50,000 children in total have been killed since the beginning of the war in October of 2023.
Not surprisingly, public outcry regarding this war is getting louder each day. Most Americans are very familiar with the controversies surrounding mass campus protests since the start of the war. However, many politicians, countries and individuals have begun to speak out as well. Notably, former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has come out and stated that he believes Israel is committing war crimes. Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan accused members of his government of celebrating the death of children in Gaza. Golan is a former IDF deputy chief of staff. Leaders of Germany, France, the UK and Canada have all come out and condemned what appears to be indiscriminate killings. However, there are no reports to date that any of these countries have placed sanctions on Israel or banned selling them weapons. And the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued several opinions as far back as July of 2024. The opinions included statements that Israel should end its occupation of Palestine and make reparations for damages. South Africa alleged Israel violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. These matters included orders for Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and to allow for humanitarian aid.
Since the onset of the war, the United States has had intermittent roles in trying to negotiate peace deals. In the last few days Steve Witkoff, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, has been in negotiations with Hamas and Israel over a ceasefire. Hamas has said they will release the remaining 10 living hostages as well as the bodies of 18 hostages who they said were killed by the bombings of buildings by the Israelis. In exchange they are asking for an end to the war, unlimited humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops. As of this writing Hamas had even agreed to withdraw from the government of Palestine and support an independent government in its place. There are other alternatives such as the head of the Palestinian authority who could take the lead. The Netanyahu government has stated they are not in agreement with this plan.
It would seem that the end of a Hamas government would be a desirable goal. Netanyahu has not come up with any solutions to end this war. There are suggestions from the international community that Netanyahu is unpopular with his own people and that the end of the war would signal the end of his leadership. The news as of this morning was that the American government was trying to broker a deal which would be more acceptable to Israel.
What is Israel’s goal at this point? What will be the fate of the Palestinian people? And what will be the consequences to the world in the years to come after watching such heartbreaking human suffering?
I know if you have read this far, you are probably seeing all of this unfold in real time on your phones or on some screen somewhere in your life. I know that everything going on in the world right now may seem overwhelming. I just want you to know that you are not alone. You are the light, and you have the ability to spread that light. May God bless you and keep you safe this week. And, as always, thank you for reading my work.