Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has released a harrowing report today, titled ‘This is not aid. This is orchestrated killing’, exposing deadly violence at aid distribution sites operated by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
GHF: no prior experience, violates humanitarian principles, but given millions of dollars of funding by US
The report, based on extensive medical data, patient testimony, and firsthand eyewitness accounts from MSF clinics near GHF sites, denounces these locations as sites of systematic and targeted lethal force rather than humanitarian relief.
Since May 27, 2025, the GHF, an organization with no prior humanitarian experience but backed by the US government and operating under Israeli military control, has reduced the number of aid distribution points from 400 under the previous UN system to just four heavily militarized sites. These locations are guarded by private American armed contractors and are within zones under Israeli military evacuation orders.
UN agencies, MSF, and many other humanitarian groups, have warned that this model risks the safety and dignity of Palestinians seeking aid, and not only violates basic humanitarian principles—including neutrality, impartiality, and humanity—but directly endangers the safety of people in desperate need of assistance.
The Israeli government justified the overhaul by alleging that previous aid had been diverted or stolen by Hamas, claims that independent analyses and the World Food Programme have found lacking evidence for.
Medical evidence and human impact
From June 7 to July 24, 2025, MSF teams at two clinics in southern Gaza treated 1,380 casualties injured at GHF aid sites. Of these, 28 arrived dead, and 71 were children with gunshot wounds—25 of whom were under 15 years old.
The injury patterns included precision gunshots aimed at the lower limbs, head, and neck, indicating intentional targeting of unarmed civilians rather than random or accidental shooting. In addition to gunfire, victims suffered physical assault, pepper spray exposure, and crushing injuries from chaotic crowd surges at the sites.
The MSF report describes families desperate for food amid blockade-induced starvation, frequently sending teenage boys as they are often the only able-bodied household members to risk the perilous journey to distribution points.
Patients include young children—such as an eight-year-old girl shot in the chest—and adolescents suffering life-threatening injuries, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the violence. MSF’s healthcare facilities have been overwhelmed, forced to function as mass casualty centers to treat those wounded while collecting aid.
Medical teams were prepared for conflict traumas but not for civilians who Israel deliberately harmed when seeking essential food rations.
MSF: GHF is ‘mechanism of dehumanisation and orchestrated killing’
The report condemns the GHF system as a ‘mechanism of dehumanisation and orchestrated killing’, providing an illusion that aid is reaching the population while actual access and food security continue to deteriorate dramatically.
MSF calls urgently for the immediate dismantling of the GHF aid distribution scheme and the restoration of the UN-coordinated humanitarian response to guarantee safe, impartial, and dignified access to life-saving assistance.
This condemnation comes as the occupation has pushed the enclave to famine levels and destroyed almost all of its infrastructure. MSF warns that the ongoing violence at aid sites, combined with the blockade and military offensive, has created a catastrophic humanitarian emergency for Gaza’s civilians, who now risk death even when seeking help.
MSF’s report appeals to governments, especially the US, to suspend funding and political support for the GHF and demands respect for international humanitarian principles, emphasizing the protection of civilian populations and unimpeded delivery of aid.
A grim picture from MSF
It paints a grim picture of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, illustrating how what should be a lifeline of survival has turned into ‘death traps’ where Palestinians face orchestrated violence while trying to access basic food aid.
According to MSF’s report, the GHF sites militarisation, and restriction of access, violate international humanitarian law principles requiring safe and dignified access to food and medical assistance.
The organisation warns that the current realities amount to orchestrated killing under the guise of aid. and urges all political actors, especially donor governments like the US, to immediately end their support for the GHF scheme.
MSF is one of more than 100 organisations demanding life-saving aid be allowed into Gaza, and is emphasising that suspending financial and political backing for GHF and re-establishing UN-led aid are essential steps to end a deadly cycle of violence and starvation.
Featured image via the Canary
