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humanitarian aid
UN Chief Demands 'Lifesaving Aid for the Long-Suffering People of Gaza'
He also took aim at Israel's aid plan, saying that "we will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality."
May 23, 2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday stressed the dire need for a major influx of "lifesaving aid for the long-suffering people of Gaza," where Palestinians are dying from not only U.S.-backed Israeli bombings but also malnutrition and lack of medicine.
"Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict," Guterres told reporters. "For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of lifesaving international aid. As the world's leading hunger assessment found, the entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine. Families are being starved and denied the very basics. All with the world watching in real time."
"Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law," he noted. "It must treat civilians humanely, with respect for their inherent dignity. It must not forcibly transport, deport, or displace the civilian population of an occupied territory. And as the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed."
"Without rapid, reliable, safe, and sustained aid access, more people will die—and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound."
In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, then ditched a fragile cease-fire with Hamas, which governed the coastal enclave for nearly two decades. In recent days, Israeli officials have finally allowed "a trickle of aid" into the territory, Guterres acknowledged, explaining that while almost 400 trucks were cleared for entry through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, supplies from only 115 trucks have been able to be collected "and nothing has reached the besieged north."
In a Friday statement, the U.N.'s World Food Program announced that 15 of its trucks transporting critical food supplies "were looted late last night in southern Gaza, while en route to WFP-supported bakeries."
"Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity," WFP said. "We need support from the Israeli authorities to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes, as was done during the cease-fire."
"WFP cannot safely operate under a distribution system that limits the number of bakeries and sites where Gaza's population can access food," the program added. "WFP and its partners must also be allowed to distribute wheat flour and food parcels directly to families—the most effective way to prevent widespread starvation."
Guterres similarly emphasized that "all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required," and called out "staggering" obstacles imposed by Israeli officials, from "strict quotas" on goods the U.N. distributes to prohibitions on "other essentials—including fuel, shelter, cooking gas, and water purification supplies."
He said that without safety and security mitigation measures for U.N. convoys, "and in the absence of the rule of law and a desperate population after months of blockade, and totally insufficient supply entering, the risk of security incidents and looting remains high. Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction."
Due to Israeli military actions, "four-fifths of the territory of Gaza is a no-go zone" for the enclave's Palestinian residents," Guterres noted. "And so, beyond questions about the particular number of trucks at any particular moment, it is important to stay fixed on the big picture. And the big picture is that without rapid, reliable, safe, and sustained aid access, more people will die—and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound."
Already, Gaza officials put the death toll at 53,822 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, though thousands more are presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble.
The U.N. chief also took aim at Israel's U.S.-supported aid plan, saying that "we will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality."
As Reutersreported Friday:
Israel has allowed aid deliveries by the U.N. and other aid groups to briefly resume until a new U.S.-backed distribution model—run by the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—is up and running by the end of the month...
Israel said its blockade had been aimed in part at stopping Palestinian militants Hamas from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid. The GHF plan involves using private security contractors to transport aid to so-called secure hubs for distribution by civilian humanitarian teams.
"The United Nations and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound five-stage plan—supported by member states—to get aid to a desperate population," Guterres highlighted. "We have the personnel, the distribution networks, the systems, and community relationships in place to act. The supplies—160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks—are waiting."
In addition to demanding "full humanitarian access," the U.N. leader reiterated his call for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and a "permanent cease-fire" in Gaza.
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The Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza Must End Now
How does a genocide end? And specifically, how do people of conscience, acting with majority support of the U.S. public, organize to end it?
May 23, 2025
The horrific images of children starving in Gaza, due to Israel's cruel, inhumane blockade of all humanitarian aid since early March, shock the world's conscience. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recently announced plan to distribute aid, while forcing Palestinians in Gaza to move yet again, is a spurious cover for his and U.S. President Donald Trump's ethnic cleansing scheme.
Yet concrete action to end this calamity is hard to organize. How does a genocide end? And specifically, how do people of conscience, acting with majority support of the U.S. public, organize to end it?
The lack of true democracy in the United States, so evident in domestic policy on many issues, is even worse in terms of foreign policy, especially regarding the mostly ironclad support for Israel. However, cracks are showing, and they must be exploited quickly.
Will any of these efforts, along with many others, overcome powerful political forces that perpetuate genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid against the Palestinian people?
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) brought his S. Res. 224, calling for an end to the humanitarian blockade on Gaza, to the Senate floor. The resolution had the support of all Democrats, except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and the two Independents who caucus with the Democrats, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine).
The resolution was predictably blocked from getting a vote by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch (R-Idaho), but was significant as no other legislative measure in the year and half since the war on Gaza began has garnered such widespread, albeit partisan support (no Republicans supported it, nor have any called for a cease-fire or cutting off U.S. weapons to Israel).
A companion resolution in the House of Representatives will be introduced very soon, and while both would be nonbinding, they represent progress in the long struggle to exert pressure on Israel, and Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are keenly aware of U.S. political developments. Additionally, the Senate will likely soon vote on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to stop specific U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. Sen. Sanders forced such votes twice since November, and while they failed, the upcoming votes should attract more support, and add to the pressure on the Israeli government, which of course is opposed by most Israelis.
Legislative initiatives are far from the only strategies and tactics being employed by peace and human rights activists. Other recent and upcoming events and opportunities include the following:
Activists led by Montgomery County, Maryland Peace Action showed up at new U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks' (D-Md.) "Sick of It" rally protesting the Trump-Musk cuts to health programs, and had a strong showing about also being sick of the Gaza genocide, including confronting the senator. It may have had some impact, as she later signed onto Sen. Welch's resolution, after having been largely silent on the genocide in Gaza, and voting against Sen. Sanders' most recent JRDs.
The impressive anti-genocide commencement speech by George Washington University student Cecelia Culver has received significant media coverage. She is now shamefully being investigated by the university. Similarly, New York University student Logan Rozos condemned the Gaza genocide in his commencement speech, and the university is withholding his diploma. Both students, along with other students similarly persecuted for speaking out for an end to the horrors in Gaza, deserve support and solidarity.
Reprising and expanding an effort from last year, New Hampshire peace activist Bob Sanders is conducting a cross-country bike ride to raise awareness of the dire situation in Gaza.
Veterans for Peace and other allies are supporting a 40-day fast for Peace in Gaza.
Groups in Philadelphia will hold a People's War Crimes Tribunal on May 31, building on the difficult but necessary advocacy aimed at Sen. Fetterman.
Lastly, Do Not Turn on Us is a new initiative calling on military and National Guard personnel to refuse unlawful, fascist orders. While more aimed at stopping fascism in the United States, it certainly is a contribution to the overall movement to establish peace, human rights, and the rule of law, domestically and internationally.
Will any of these efforts, along with many others, overcome powerful political forces that perpetuate genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid against the Palestinian people? No one can know for sure, but all are worthy of support and persistence. As Ms. Culver stated, none of us are free until Palestine is free.
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UN Warns 14,000 Babies in Gaza Could Die in 48 Hours Without True Lift of Israeli Blockade
"The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress," said one humanitarian expert.
May 20, 2025
The United Nations estimated that the Netanyahu government's continued starvation of more than 2 million Palestinians could kill up to 14,000 infants in the next two days without a serious influx of aid.
News outlets have reported since Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed five aid trucks carrying baby food and other nutritional aid into the besieged enclave—but humanitarian experts and workers have decried the arrival of the aid as "a trickle among a sea of need."
Tom Fletcher, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs for the United Nations, said the tiny amount of aid was a "drop in the ocean" in a bombarded enclave where food security experts announced earlier this month that nearly a quarter of a million people are facing "extreme deprivation of food" and the entire population has "very high" levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.
While many medical workers have been killed in Israeli bombings, Fletcher told the BBC's Radio 4"Today" program that teams have assessed that 14,000 infants are likely to die within 48 hours if food aid can't reach them. The small amount of trucks allowed in through the Karem Abu Salem crossing Monday—a fraction of the 600 per day that provided food, medications, water, and other aid to Palestinians during the recent cease-fire—have yet to actually reach civilians.
On Tuesday, 100 more U.N. trucks were given clearance to enter Gaza. Fletcher said humanitarian workers fear potential looting of aid trucks due to the chaotic, desperate situation faced by Palestinians.
The current blockade began March 2, and international humanitarian groups operating in Gaza have exhausted their reserves of food aid over the past 79 days.
"For over 70 days Israel has been starving the people of Gaza, depriving them of food, water, medicine, and essential supplies while escalating its cruel and indiscriminate bombing campaign," said Wassem Mushtaha, Gaza response lead for Oxfam. "Two million people are on the brink of famine, and they are not just starving, but also traumatized, sick, and displaced from their homes."
"The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress, especially alongside the expansion of Israel's brutal bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip," said Mushtaha. "It is not a turning point, but at best a narrow concession that seems to reflect mounting international pressure."
The continued blockade on effectively all humanitarian aid prompted the United Kingdom, Canada, and France to issue a joint statement Monday saying that "the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable" and threatening "targeted sanctions."
On Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that the government had suspended trade negotiations over Netanyahu's blockade and plan to expand military operations across Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Tuesday that the country also supports a review of the European Union's trade relationship with Gaza.
"The blind violence and the blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government have turned the enclave into a death trap, not to say a cemetery," Barrot said. "This must stop... It is an absolute violation of all the rules of international law."
The European leaders' comments were a departure from many Western governments' insistence since 2023 that Israel is operating in self-defense and that it is targeting Hamas in retaliation for the group's attack on October 7, 2023. Humanitarian groups, rights experts, and progressive lawmakers have called on Western governments to end their support for Israel, which faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, said Tuesday that "what is urgently needed is for all crossings to be opened to allow a full and proper humanitarian response that allows real access, with safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law."
"A token convoy does not equal progress, only sustained, accountable access through every crossing will end the impunity that keeps aid from flowing," said Khalidi. "We must also see an end to the relentless bombing and attacks on Palestinian people, with an urgent and permanent cease-fire, alongside justice and accountability for all."
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