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Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) strongly condemned the massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces against starving civilians gathered to receive humanitarian aid in northern Gaza on the morning of Sunday, July 20.
According to the organization, Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of civilians near aid distribution points after ordering them to raise their hands and pass in front of tanks. The attack killed 67 Palestinians and injured dozens more. The latest massacre raises the death toll of what has come to be known as the “Breadline Martyrs” to 989 killed and more than 6,011 wounded since the occupation imposed a new aid distribution mechanism on May 27.
WJWC described the incident as part of a systematic starvation policy designed to break the population’s will and achieve the goals of genocide. The organization criticized the European Union’s recent announcement of reaching an agreement to facilitate aid entry to Gaza as a “deceptive gesture” aimed at deflecting global outrage and easing pressure on Israel, calling it a form of complicity in crimes against humanity.
Gaza Facing Catastrophic Levels of Hunger
Citing reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and international organizations, WJWC warned that Gaza has reached unprecedented levels of hunger and malnutrition since the start of the Israeli assault on October 7, 2023. Within just 24 hours prior to the massacre, 18 civilians—mostly children—died from starvation, including three-month-old infant Yahya al-Najjar.
Emergency departments across the few remaining operational hospitals in Gaza reported an overwhelming influx of starving civilians of all ages suffering from severe exhaustion and total physical collapse. The Ministry of Health described the situation as “a looming death sentence” and sounded ambulance sirens across the city as a public alarm — “the voice of the starving and abandoned,” it said.
Medical teams at al-Shifa Medical Complex have reportedly been working for over 24 hours without food, warning that more deaths are expected in the coming hours due to extreme shortages of food and medicine.
Deliberate Obstruction of Aid and Targeting of Relief Efforts
WJWC accused the Israeli government of orchestrating a calculated starvation campaign, using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war. The organization documented:
· The closure of all crossings and prevention of over 76,450 aid and fuel trucks from entering Gaza;
· The bombing of 99 soup kitchens and aid distribution centers;
· 121 direct attacks on aid convoys, resulting in the deaths of numerous relief workers and aid convoy escorts;
· The arming of looting gangs and the creation of the so-called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" — a U.S.-Israeli entity — which oversees distribution points that have become death traps for civilians.
WJWC emphasized that over 2 million people in Gaza have been pushed to the brink of death by deliberate starvation, constant bombardment, and total deprivation of rest and basic human needs.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has confirmed that it holds enough food supplies to sustain Gaza’s entire population for over three months, but Israel continues to block their entry. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, over 1 million children are now at risk of dying from hunger and malnutrition.
Humanitarian and Legal Catastrophe
The organization asserted that the deliberate starvation of civilians and the obstruction of life-saving supplies constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as acts of genocide.
Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Similarly, Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court criminalizes the starvation of civilians and the obstruction of humanitarian relief. Furthermore, Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention identifies the deliberate imposition of living conditions calculated to bring about the destruction of a population as an element of genocide.
Recommendations and Urgent Demands
Based on the gravity of the situation and the documented violations, Women Journalists Without Chains issued the following urgent calls:
· Immediate and sustained pressure on Israeli authorities to end the policy of systematic starvation and comply fully with international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions.
· Full and unconditional opening of all border crossings to allow for the entry of humanitarian aid, food, medicine, water, and essential supplies. International agencies and medical teams must be permitted to operate without obstruction or targeting.
· Urgent international protection for civilians in Gaza — especially children, women, the sick, and the starving — and guarantees of access to basic life-saving resources.
· An independent and transparent international investigation into all massacres and acts of genocide, including starvation-related crimes, with accountability pursued through the International Criminal Court to ensure perpetrators do not escape justice.
· Total rejection of any aid distribution mechanisms controlled or manipulated by the occupying power, including the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” which must be investigated for its role in facilitating mass civilian deaths under the guise of aid.
· A firm and public stance by the European Union and UN bodies that goes beyond symbolic statements and reflects their legal and moral responsibilities toward a population facing an overt genocide.
