Unified call to confront famine in Gaza: Launch the diplomatic humanitarian convoy now

12th May 2025

Palestinian civil society, joined by humanitarian and human rights organisations worldwide, issues this urgent and unified call: The manufactured famine in Gaza must be halted. The international community must act decisively, immediately, and with full moral and legal responsibility.

We are witnessing, in real time, the deliberate starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare. Over two million Palestinians in Gaza are living in famine.

Since 2 March 2025, Israel has blocked all humanitarian supplies and life-saving assistance - constituting the longest total siege Gaza has ever experienced. UNICEF and OCHA have sounded the alarm: in Gaza, farmland has been destroyed, fishing waters are off-limits, bakeries and community kitchens are shutting down, food has run out, and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombardment. Children are “going to bed starving.” 92% of children under two and breastfeeding mothers are not receiving adequate nutrition. Hospitals have run out of blood, and those burned in explosions are left with no water to save them. 

UNRWA and the World Food Programme have exhausted their reserves, while Israel moves to dismantle the existing UN-run aid distribution system. On 11 April 2025, the Palestinian NGO Network declared that Gaza had entered an advanced stage of famine. This was followed by an official declaration from the State of Palestine designating the Gaza Strip as a famine zone and calling for urgent international intervention, including under Article 99 of the UN Charter. Deaths from famine are already occurring and are expected to rise sharply if conditions persist. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the entire population of Gaza is experiencing acute food insecurity, with half a million people facing starvation. There is a high risk that famine (IPC Phase 5 – Catastrophe) will soon materialise, making immediate action imperative.

Despite this catastrophic reality, over 3,000 aid trucks and 116,000 metric tonnes of food are ready and waiting to enter Gaza – obstructed solely by Israel. This is being done in open defiance of the core principles of international law, as reiterated in binding legal orders, including the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures in South Africa v. Israel - orders that remain ignored and unfulfilled over a year later.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said:

“Aid is non-negotiable…. The entry of assistance must be restored immediately…. There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid.. This is not a time for ritualistically expressing support, ticking a box, and moving on.”

On 29 April 2025, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned of the total collapse of life-saving support, stating that:

“Third States have clear obligations under international law to ensure that such conduct stops immediately, and they must act accordingly.”

We therefore call for the immediate organisation and deployment of a Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

We urge states to join the humanitarian convoy by dispatching official diplomatic missions -at the highest possible level- to accompany the aid trucks already waiting at the Rafah Crossing, and to enter Gaza alongside them. This act is grounded in states’ legal obligations, moral courage, and human solidarity. To that end, we demand the following:

1. We call on all states to publicly commit to joining the humanitarian convoy by dispatching official diplomatic missions to accompany the aid trucks into Gaza via the Rafah Crossing. A specific departure date will be announced soon. States must also reject the weaponisation of aid and Israel’s planned distribution mechanisms, which militarise relief efforts and bypass UN agencies and humanitarian actors.

2. We urge all states to coordinate with the United Nations and the Government of Egypt to facilitate the convoy’s entry and ensure the immediate, unhindered, and safe passage of humanitarian aid, medical teams, and relief workers.

3. While some governments complicit in the ongoing atrocities may choose not to participate, we call on individual diplomats, parliamentarians, and ministers from those countries to join the convoy in their personal capacities.

4. We urge international media outlets to accompany the convoy - to bear witness, to document the famine, and to expose the blockade starving Gaza.

5. We call on global civil society, including NGOs, trade unions, student groups, political parties, and solidarity networks, to mobilise immediately - to pressure governments to support the convoy and provide material, political, and public support.

6. We call on the United Nations to urgently complete the necessary assessments and procedures required to declare Gaza a famine zone, based on verified data, and to support this unified call by actively facilitating, endorsing, and joining the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy.

This is a human imperative. A Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy would mark a historic step to break the siege, end the starvation, and affirm the world’s rejection of hunger as a weapon of war.

This call is grounded in international law, shared morality, Genocide Convention, the ICJ’s provisional measures, the UN Charter, and countless resolutions from the UN, OIC, Arab League, and the European and African Unions.

Inaction will lead to mass death by starvation, enable further grave illegalities, and undermine the international legal system. We are calling on you today to:

Let Gaza Live. End the Starvation. End the Siege. Open the Crossings.

Launch the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy - NOW