I am writing to demand immediate action to address the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, where deliberate starvation has become a weapon of war. According to recent reports from journalists on the ground, more than 1,000 people desperately seeking food have been killed by Israeli forces since May, with American contractors confirming that Israeli military personnel have fired live ammunition and stun grenades at civilians waiting for aid at distribution centers. As one survivor described it, "The bullets were chasing us as if we were targets on a shooting range, and not just hungry people." This systematic targeting of starving civilians represents a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The situation has deteriorated to the point where even the few remaining journalists documenting these atrocities are themselves starving. AFP freelancers in Gaza, who risk their lives daily to inform the world, report being too weak from hunger to continue their work. One journalist wrote, "I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can't work anymore."
Meanwhile, the UN's World Food Programme has confirmed they have enough food just outside Gaza to supply the entire population for two months, but cannot deliver it due to Israeli restrictions and ongoing violence.
Twenty-nine countries, including the UK and France, have already issued a joint statement condemning Israel's "drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food." The United States must join this international chorus and use its significant leverage to demand that Israel immediately allow unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza. The deliberate starvation of an entire population cannot be justified under any circumstances, and our continued military and diplomatic support makes us complicit in these crimes.
I urge you to take immediate action by calling for a ceasefire that allows full humanitarian access, demanding accountability for attacks on civilians seeking food aid, and conditioning all future military assistance to Israel on its compliance with international humanitarian law. The world is watching as people are being systematically starved to death, and history will judge those who remained silent in the face of such deliberate cruelty.
First sent on July 24 by Jess Craven · 3,382 signers in
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