By Lara Kajs
Thinking Out Loud
Since the war in Gaza escalated in late 2023, the territory has faced an unprecedented humanitarian collapse. Civilians seeking food, water, and medical aid have increasingly found themselves in danger, as military operations, aid restrictions, and infrastructure destruction converge. Reports of attacks on crowds gathered for humanitarian assistance have intensified international concern about civilian protection, the legality of military tactics, and the deepening famine conditions affecting millions of Palestinians.
A Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
In Gaza, a humanitarian disaster of staggering proportions continues to unfold. Thousands of civilians—women, children, and the elderly among them—have lost their lives as Israeli military operations intensify across the territory. Increasingly troubling are reports that some of these deaths are occurring not during combat between armed groups, but while civilians are gathered seeking humanitarian aid.
Witness accounts, videos, and reports from humanitarian organizations describe airstrikes and gunfire hitting areas where civilians have gathered to receive food or medical assistance. In some cases, these gatherings occurred near aid distribution sites, including those connected to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an initiative supported by Israel and the United States.
At the same time, Gaza faces the growing threat of famine. A combination of prolonged blockade conditions, restricted aid access, and large-scale infrastructure destruction has left millions struggling to obtain basic necessities such as food, water, medicine, and shelter.
In Gaza today, survival itself has become dangerous. Civilians searching for food, water, or medicine increasingly risk becoming targets.”
Israel’s Blockade
For nearly two decades, Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza that tightly restricts the movement of goods and people into and out of the territory. Israeli officials argue the measures are necessary to prevent weapons and military supplies from reaching Hamas and other militant groups.
Humanitarian organizations and many international experts, however, argue that the blockade has had devastating consequences for Gaza’s civilian population. Over two million Palestinians live under conditions that have crippled the territory’s economy, weakened its healthcare system, and severely limited access to essential goods.
The restrictions have contributed to chronic shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and construction materials. Hospitals frequently operate without adequate supplies, and rebuilding damaged infrastructure has become nearly impossible.
In the current conflict, these long-standing restrictions have combined with widespread destruction from military operations to create what humanitarian agencies increasingly describe as famine conditions.
International organizations, including the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Food Programme, and World Central Kitchen, have attempted to deliver aid. Yet access routes remain limited, and deliveries have often been disrupted by ongoing hostilities and security restrictions.
Civilians at Aid Lines
As humanitarian conditions worsen, civilians across Gaza have increasingly gathered in large crowds whenever food or medical supplies become available. These gatherings—sometimes described by observers as “hunger lines”—have become a grim symbol of the territory’s desperation.
But they have also become dangerous.
Multiple reports describe Israeli strikes hitting areas where civilians had gathered to receive aid. Survivors and witnesses recount scenes in which already weakened and displaced civilians were killed or injured while attempting to obtain food or medical treatment.
The scale of casualties linked to these incidents has raised alarm among humanitarian groups. Reports indicate that more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in recent months while attempting to access aid at several GHF distribution centers, with many more wounded.
If civilians are deliberately or recklessly targeted in such circumstances, the actions could constitute violations of international humanitarian law. The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibit attacks on civilians and require combatants to distinguish between military targets and civilian populations.
Impact on Aid and Survival
Israeli officials have maintained that strikes in Gaza are directed at Hamas fighters or military infrastructure. The Israeli military frequently argues that militants operate within civilian areas, making combat operations extraordinarily complex.
However, critics—including humanitarian organizations and some international legal experts—argue that the repeated strikes near crowded civilian gatherings raise serious questions about proportionality and the protection of non-combatants.
In Gaza today, civilians already weakened by hunger, displacement, and injury often must risk their lives simply to obtain food or medicine.
Aid workers say the situation has created an impossible choice: stay away from distribution sites and risk starvation, or join the crowds and risk becoming casualties of the war.
A Man-Made Famine
The destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure has compounded the crisis. Airstrikes have damaged or destroyed hospitals, markets, bakeries, and water systems. Combined with the blockade and limited aid access, these losses have pushed the territory’s food and healthcare systems toward collapse.
Humanitarian agencies increasingly warn that Gaza is entering famine conditions. Malnutrition is rising rapidly, particularly among children, while diseases linked to contaminated water and overcrowded shelters are spreading.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides aid to Palestinian refugees, has repeatedly warned that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating at an alarming pace.
With roughly 80 percent of Gaza’s population reliant on international aid, the disruption of aid deliveries and the danger surrounding distribution sites have placed millions at risk.
The Need for Accountability
The scale of suffering in Gaza demands international scrutiny.
Attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers, or aid distribution points must be independently investigated. International humanitarian law requires that civilians be protected, even in the most intense conflicts.
At the same time, humanitarian organizations argue that meaningful relief will remain impossible without expanded aid access and the removal of barriers that prevent food, medicine, and supplies from reaching the population.
Without immediate action to protect civilians and ensure safe aid delivery, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis may deepen into an even larger catastrophe.
The situation in Gaza is not simply a geopolitical dispute. It is a humanitarian emergency affecting millions of civilians whose daily struggle is no longer only about avoiding bombs, but about finding food, water, and medicine.
No matter the political context or military objectives, civilians seeking to survive should never become expendable.
Photo Credit: As tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza wait to receive the very limited amount of food available, a young girl sits on an empty water container. TGR photo: JNzari.
Published 31 July 2025
About Thinking Out Loud
Thinking Out Loud is a commentary series by Lara Kajs examining international law, humanitarian crises, and the prevention of mass atrocities. Drawing on field experience in conflict and displacement settings, the column explores the legal and policy challenges that shape contemporary conflicts
Lara Kajs is the founder and executive director of The Genocide Report, a Washington, DC-based educational nonprofit focused on atrocity prevention and international law. She is the author of several field-based books on conflict, displacement, humanitarian crises, and international humanitarian law, drawing on extensive research and field experience in Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. Her writing and public speaking focus on atrocity crimes, forced displacement, the protection of civilians, and the legal frameworks governing armed conflict.