The aid distribution centers across the Gaza Strip have become death traps for defenseless civilians, including women, instead of serving as safe havens offering the least life-saving essentials. In the complete absence of protection, basic organizational standards, and privacy, women are left exposed to violence and death with no guarantees to protect their lives and preserve their dignity. These centers have become sites of systematic killing and ongoing humiliation of women, all under the disguise of “humanitarian aid.”

Yesterday, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed Khadijah Mohammed Abu ‘Anzah (45) by directly shooting her as she attempted to reach an aid distribution center in the “Saudi neighborhood” (al-Shakoush), west of Rafah. The attack took place on the day the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)-an entity established by the Israeli occupation- had designated aid distribution exclusively for women. This incident reflects a new mechanism imposed as part of the Israeli-American plan to restructure humanitarian aid delivery, deliberately bypassing UN frameworks. To date, at least 1,061 Palestinians, including 32 women, have been killed while trying to obtain humanitarian aid, underscoring the extreme and deadly risks women face even in darkest and harshest times. ¹ The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) stresses that this new mechanism fails to meet the most basic principles of humanitarian work. Instead, it serves a broader military and political agenda aimed at killing civilians, entrenching the starvation policy, and facilitating mass forced displacement officially declared in February 2025.

Daily violations clearly demonstrate that the current aid distribution mechanisms fail to provide the necessary protection due to women and instead expose them to constant and direct risks. Rather than serving as safe and supportive spaces for women survivors and vulnerable groups, these centers have become sites of recurring violence and killing. This heinous policy is part of an ongoing, systematic pattern of grave Israeli violations against women and girls in the Gaza Strip. Since October 2023, their targeting has become an integral component of the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people-a deliberate attempt to uproot them from their land and erase their existence.

What is happening on the ground in the Gaza Strip reveals a complete disregard for gender-sensitive criteria in the GHF’s aid distribution mechanisms. Patterns of gender-based violence intersect with the structural violence imposed by Israel’s policies of starvation, deprivation, and forced displacement. In addition to bearing the responsibility of caring for and supporting their families amid the total collapse of infrastructure, women are being directly targeted and subjected to physical violence while trying to obtain basic life necessities. Many are forced to walk long distances- sometimes up to five kilometers—from their areas of displacement, with no means of transportation or having the ability to afford their high costs. This occurs in the context of widespread starvation and malnutrition that severely undermines their physical endurance.

Moreover, the aid distribution centers lack even the most basic organizational standards and privacy necessary to protect women. This has resulted in frequent stampedes, pushing, and chaotic overcrowding- conditions that reflect Israel’s systematic and deliberate attempts to spread disorder in the Gaza Strip, strip Palestinians of their dignity, and further destabilize social and economic life. Most alarmingly, these centers provide no effective protection measures, leaving women vulnerable to assaults and theft—whether by civilians or Israeli soldiers, in a blatant violation of their rights and lives.

Mona al-A’araj (50) said to PCHR:

“My husband was killed four months ago, and since then, I have become the sole breadwinner for my three children. We live in a tent without access to even the most basic necessities- no flour, no food- amid suffocating starvation and without any source of income for over two months. I registered with every relief organization, but I have received nothing, as the crossings have been closed and aid blocked since 2 March. On 24 July 2025, I made the painful decision to go to the American aid distribution site in the al-Shakoush area. I left our tent at dawn, my heart aching. I walked more than five kilometers in complete darkness and fear, as Israeli quadcopters hovered above me. When I reached the area, the IOF suddenly opened fire, injuring women and children. We were forced to lie on the ground under the burning sun for over 6 hours. When the gate finally opened, people surged forward. I was already weak from hunger and thirst, but I pushed through the chaos, desperately trying to reach the aid yard. I searched around people’s feet and scattered boxes, and managed to grab a kilo of lentils, chickpeas, pasta, beans, and salt. I was overwhelmed with joy- I could finally feed my children and ease their hunger after so many days of suffering. But my joy was short-lived. The American forces opened fire and sprayed us with pepper gas. I fell to the ground, injured, and the little food I had managed to collect was stolen. I left the site in tears, exhausted and broken. I walked back five kilometers on foot, unable to afford transportation. When I returned to my tent, my children met me with eyes full of despair and hunger. I had nothing to give them- only tears. I hope these centers, which claim to be humanitarian, are shut down. They have become sites of death and humiliation. They strip us of our dignity and offer only crumbs that are not enough for the starved, as if they were created not to save us, but to torture and kill us.”²

The deadly and humiliating aid distribution mechanism exposes women and girls in Gaza to compounded patterns of violations amid the ongoing genocidal war. These include direct killings, constant threats, systematic coercion, and the total absence of protection frameworks. Women are forced into compulsory survival roles, facing death daily in a desperate struggle for survival, all under a deliberate starvation policy that targets their bodies and those of their children. This relentless violence, coupled with the international community’s deafening silence, raises real and profound questions about the effectiveness of international protection systems for women during armed conflicts.

PCHR recommends the following:

• The international community must exert pressure on Israel to halt its ongoing crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip and all associated acts, including its systematic starvation policy.
• The international community and all relevant actors must compel Israel to comply with the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which order Israel to take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of essential humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and to reopen all border crossings permanently and unconditionally to allow unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid.
• States Parties to the Rome Statute must execute the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare.
• Aid distribution must be reorganized under the framework of United Nations and independent bodies that operate according to international humanitarian work principles, free from political or military interference.
• Establish clear, gender-sensitive protection standards in the aid distribution mechanisms to ensure a safe, organized, and dignified environment for women and other vulnerable groups.

1. PCHR’s interview with Dr. Isma’il al-Thawabtah, Director General of the Gaza Government Media Office on 24 July 2025. ↩︎
2. PCHR received her testiomony on 24 July 2025 in al-Mawasi camp in Khan Younis. ↩︎