Support IRC's Response in Gaza & Crises Worldwide

A recent International Rescue Committee (IRC) assessment in Gaza highlights the collapse of access to basic goods as a result of Israel’s total blockade on humanitarian aid. While Israel allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza this week, this has not scratched the surface of the vast needs across Gaza. Supplies essential for survival, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, are running dangerously low. Bakeries and community kitchens have shuttered, and hospitals needed to treat those suffering from acute hunger are barely functioning.  

According to the assessment, conducted with over 250 households in Deir al Balah, Gaza City and North Gaza in April:  

• Nearly three in five families reported being unable to find bread or fresh food,
• More than 60% said they were struggling to access drinking water, and
• Nearly two-thirds said that canned food was disappearing from markets.  

This week, the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update revealed that the entire population of Gaza is now facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people (one in five) facing starvation. As goods indispensable for people’s survival are expected to run out in the coming weeks, IRC mobile health teams, in partnership with Juzoor for Health & Development, are seeing a clear rise in both moderate and severe malnutrition among children, with cases doubling in the last month. IRC staff on the ground report families dividing a single piece of bread among five or six members, and children regularly having to go to sleep hungry.  

Mohammed, IRC’s Senior Nutrition Manager in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) says, 

“In Gaza, hunger is a daily reality. Flour, if found, is often spoiled, and shelves are empty of fruits and vegetables. We wake up to empty stomachs, hoping for something to eat, but find only emptiness. The food we have offers no nutrition, just a desperate attempt to fill the void. The IRC and our partners are seeing that children are suffering the most, with cases of malnutrition continuing to skyrocket.” 

Amidst these worsening conditions, on 5 May 2025, the Israeli Government approved plans to replace the existing UN-led aid distribution system for Gaza with a new system under full Israeli control. If implemented, this would restrict humanitarian distributions to tightly controlled sites in Gaza, and only to pre-approved Palestinian recipients, with distribution carried out by private contractors and NGOs willing to participate.   

The IRC, alongside the UN and other humanitarian actors, is gravely concerned that this proposed modality would likely lead to mass forced displacement of the civilian population, prevent vulnerable groups such as those with mobility issues and children from accessing aid, and render a principled humanitarian response impossible.   

Zoe, IRC's Country Director in oPt, says,

“If these plans are implemented, we will lose any possibility of reaching the people who need aid the most, including those isolated by hostilities, people with mobility issues and people with disabilities. It would also reduce humanitarian response to merely the delivery of aid supplies and would not account for the delivery of services that ensure an effective response. For example, for malnutrition treatment to be successful, humanitarian actors do not just deliver Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs), they also provide healthcare, education and awareness sessions and follow up treatments to ensure a full, long-term recovery. To date, the IRC and our partners have reached more than 24,000 children in Gaza through nutrition programming, and more than 180,000 people across our response. Put simply, under these new plans, this would no longer be possible.”   

The IRC is committed to the delivery of principled assistance - aid that is impartial, independent and neutral. This is vital to our ability to access affected populations and build the trust needed to deliver sustainable and effective assistance. We call on donors and all parties with influence to reject the plans and for Israeli authorities to engage with humanitarian actors to develop a way forward that allows for impartial humanitarian aid delivery at the speed and scale required for this crisis.   

To significantly scale up humanitarian assistance and protect civilians in Gaza from further harm, the IRC continues to urgently call for the immediate reinstatement of the ceasefire, an end to the blockade on aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and other armed actors, and for unfettered humanitarian access within Gaza. As the ‘occupying power’, Israel has a legal obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid and ensure humanitarian access.