With Gaza already devastated by relentless, indiscriminate attacks on civilians and infrastructure, obstruction of life-saving aid, imminent famine and the forced displacement of nearly its entire population, Israel is now preparing for a new offensive that extends its genocidal campaign even further. Approved in May 2025 by its security cabinet, the plan would give Israel control over Gaza, forcibly displace Palestinians to southern Gaza and centralize humanitarian aid delivery exclusively through Israeli-controlled hubs.
“It is unconscionable that Israel can openly weaponize humanitarian aid in Gaza, ethnically cleanse civilians and use starvation as a weapon of war, facing virtually no consequences. How much more death and suffering before states exert real pressure to end these atrocities and uphold the basic standards of international law?” says Amna Guellali, Research Director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS).
Israel’s new plan is the latest development in a long history of policies aimed at making Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians. Since October 2023, Israel has deliberately restricted or impeded access to vital services and humanitarian aid, causing one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. In June 2024, a CIHRS report concluded that Israel’s attacks in Gaza demonstrate clear and compelling evidence of genocidal intent. The full blockade reinstated in March 2025 has only worsened conditions, where almost the entire population of Gaza is facing acute food insecurity and water shortage as the health system verges on total collapse due to Israel’s continued blocking of fuel and essential medical equipment and supplies. Since the reinstatement of the blockade, at least 57 people, mostly children, have reportedly died from malnutrition.
A key aspect of the plan is the coercive displacement of Palestinians under the pretext of humanitarian coordination. According to credible media sources, Israel intends to distribute aid exclusively through its own hubs and to limit aid delivery to three centers in Rafah in southern Gaza, effectively forcing Palestinians to move. The Rafah governorate is currently fully a no-go zone, which further indicates a planned mass displacement. This move comes amid frequent and widespread evacuation orders, which have already displaced over 90 percent of Gaza’s population since October 2023. The nature and scope of these evacuation orders has raised serious concerns of permanent displacement purportedly for establishing a ‘buffer zone’. As of May 2025, 70 percent of the Gaza Strip is within the ‘no-go’ zone or under displacement orders. This currently leaves Palestinians with less than a third of the Gaza Strip to live in, while subjected to dire humanitarian conditions.
Israel’s planned new offensive fundamentally violates international humanitarian law. Under the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, humanitarian assistance must be impartial, non-discriminatory, and delivered by actors who maintain independence from the parties to the conflict. The exclusive routing of aid through Israeli military channels or through politicized agencies runs counter to these principles, turning humanitarian relief into a mechanism of control and coercion. Conditioning access to aid on displacement may constitute unlawful forcible transfer, particularly where civilians face threats or pressure to relocate in exchange for basic survival.
Even as it openly violates its international obligations and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings, Israel continues to enjoy impunity. In 2024 alone, the ICJ repeatedly ordered Israel to allow the urgent and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, highlighting the ‘prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities’ to Palestinians. In July 2024, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately end its occupation of Palestinian territories and affirmed the obligation of other states to refrain from relations with Israel that may entrench or help maintain its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israel’s new strategy is part of a broader, deliberate policy to dismantle independent humanitarian action in Gaza. Over recent months, Israel has increasingly targeted humanitarian agencies – especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – through defunding campaigns, administrative obstruction, public delegitimization, and even direct military strikes on its staff and facilities. These actions, prohibited under international law, have severely restricted the ability of humanitarian actors to operate effectively. Now, under the guise of coordination and security, Israel is rebranding this obstruction as aid distribution.
With more than two million Palestinians at imminent risk of starvation and death, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies calls on states to act now to:
- Increase diplomatic efforts to not allow the implementation of Israel’s plan for the new offensive in Gaza and the illegal, new aid distribution mechanism.
- Ensure the definitive end of the blockade on Gaza, and the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid.
- In line with the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, urgently review all relations with Israel and suspend those that support and enable its violations of international law, including its continued occupation of Palestinian territories, illegal settlements and apartheid. This includes imposing an arms embargo, banning trade and other cooperation agreements, such as the trade provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which EU Member States are empowered to do by qualified majority vote.
- Support independent and international mechanisms to investigate human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
- Enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants issued in November 2024 against Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and previous Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
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