I would like to tell you about my friend Hamza (not his real name for security reasons).
Hamza is a young doctor from the Gaza Strip. He is 22 years old, and his dream is to become a vascular surgeon to help his community. For now, due to a lack of resources and professional networks, his involvement is limited to volunteering at vaccination centers, hospitals, and clinics. Hamza currently “lives” in Khan Yunis with his two sisters, four nieces, and two nephews, aged 7 months to 7 years.
On May 20, 2025, under one of the most massive displacement orders issued by the Israeli occupying force, more than 160,000 people were forcibly displaced, adding to a total of nearly 600,000 displaced since March 18. These orders had a devastating effect on families, including Hamza’s. The day after their evacuation, he wrote these words to me, accompanied by two photos showing a road littered with rubble and destroyed infrastructure:
“Yes, we evacuated. We were on the street, but now we are fine, Alhamdoulillah (thank God). We are by the sea. We left everything behind and fled for our lives. We were barely able to take a few clothes and belongings with us, and we walked until we reached the sea. My sister escaped to Deir al-Balah, and my other sister is here in Khan Yunis, on the street. And we are here, in our uncle’s tent, with his whole family.”
There are more than 30 movement orders targeting 68 of Gaza’s 79 residential neighborhoods, placing more than 80% of the Gaza Strip under Israeli military occupation. The remaining 20%, where civilians are forced to take refuge without any guarantee of safety, are completely deprived of sanitation facilities, medical care, basic infrastructure, and drinking water. This tragedy is the result of the relentless siege decreed by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant since October 2023 and the deliberate destruction by the Israeli army of Gaza’s last desalination plant in April 2025.
Since May 28, the distribution of humanitarian aid has been entrusted to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). “It’s like The Hunger Games,” says Hamza. Starving, Gazans must literally risk their lives to feed their children: walking for miles, crammed like cattle into barbed-wire corridors reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps, to reach a vacant lot where a few food items are piled up, without any organization, under crossfire from American and especially Israeli militias. The experience is described as an apocalypse by those who regret the much more dignified system formerly administered by the UN with distribution lists. To date, at least 400 Palestinians have been killed while desperately trying to access this vital aid. And for what price? “Four cans of tuna, a few packets of spaghetti, and a liter of oil,” says Hamza’s brother, after hours of waiting in the sweltering heat, under Israeli drones and bullets.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a company registered in the United States (Delaware) with a subsidiary in Switzerland, was created in February 2025 by a group of American businessmen and former American and Israeli military personnel. It was formed in the wake of the Israeli army’s massacre of international humanitarian workers, which took place while Gaza was undergoing more than five months of systematic military blockade preventing the entry of vital aid. Its executive director, Jake Wood, finally announced his resignation on May 25, admitting that GHF “could not uphold the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence” in such a context of massive violations. The United Nations also accuses GHF of bypassing its agencies in Gaza and openly flouting international law. As for its Geneva-based subsidiary, it was dissolved on July 2 by the Swiss authorities for non-compliance with the law, following a petition by NGOs and Mr. Wood’s resignation.
For the moment, Hamza tells me that he knows of no other alternatives for obtaining food. During the last harvest, Hamza’s brother was able to get his hands on 2 kg of flour during a chaotic distribution by the GHF. We are far from the calorie thresholds needed to maintain good health and a healthy immune system.
On August 22, the World Health Organization officially declared famine in Gaza, where more than half a million people are affected. At the same time, doctors on the ground are facing a resurgence of rare and deadly diseases, exacerbated by the almost non-existent access to drinking water and the deterioration of sanitary conditions imposed by the Israeli blockade: poliovirus, hepatitis A, Guillain-Barré syndrome, measles, etc., which particularly affect children. Today, in Gaza, there is an average of one shower for every 4,500 people and one toilet for every 220 people.
Every day, I am filled with worry, but also determination. Every time I receive a notification from Hamza on WhatsApp, I know that he is still alive, still standing, even in the hell imposed by Israel. Today, he is trying everything he can to get out of Gaza to continue his medical studies—and he deserves, like all people, to find freedom and dignity.
On my own small scale, I choose to take action: to demonstrate, to pressure the Canadian government to impose sanctions, to stop selling arms to Israel, and above all to amplify the voices calling for respect for international law and the self-determination of the Palestinian people.
This struggle is also that of the trade union movement, and I invite you to consult the active campaigns and actions to be taken on the Labor For Palestine website: https://www.labourforpalestine.com/
In solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Leïla Mérabet, Local President UVAE 10042
Sources :
Les déplacements forcés ordonnés par Israël sont en train d’effacer Gaza. 28 mai 2025. Oxfam. Consulté sur : https://oxfam.qc.ca/les-deplacements-forces-ordonnes-par-israel-sont-en-train-deffacer-gaza-avertit-oxfam/#:~:text=L’un%20des%20ordres%20de,d%C3%A9j%C3%A0%20d%C3%A9plac%C3%A9es%20a%20%C3%A9t%C3%A9%20d%C3%A9vastateur.
Not aid, but humiliation’: A desperate search for food in Gaza : Palestinians in Gaza recount journeys to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid distribution sites, as starvation looms. Al Jazeera, 29 mai 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/29/not-aid-but-humiliation-a-desperate-search-for-food-in-gaza
Deliberate massacre’ in Gaza as starving Palestinians seek Israeli-US aid : At least three dead as thousands try to reach a food distribution site of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera, 27 mai 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/27/heartbreaking-chaos-in-gaza-as-starving-palestinians-seek-us-israeli-aid
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What’s inside the boxes of aid being distributed in Gaza? Middle East Eye. 28 May 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/what-inside-box-aid-distributed-gaza-humanitarian-foundation#:~:text=Four%20cans%20of%20tuna%2C%20some,heat%20in%20war%2Dravaged%20Gaza.
Controversial U.S.-backed Gaza aid group breaching rules for foundations registered in Switzerland, Swiss authorities say. CBS News. 29 mai 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-ghf-breaching-rules-switzerland-authorities-say/
Sept travailleurs humanitaires tués : Israël dénoncé de toutes parts. 2 avr. 2024. Consulté sur : https://www.lapresse.ca/international/moyen-orient/2024-04-02/sept-travailleurs-humanitaires-tues/israel-denonce-de-toutes-parts.php
Des ONG craignent une « famine de masse » à Gaza si Israël n’y laisse pas entrer l’aide. Radio Canada. 14 mai 2025. Consulté sur : https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/fr/nouvelle/2165052/famine-masse-gaza-israel-aide
‘Not aid, but humiliation’: A desperate search for food in Gaza. Al Jazeera. 29 May 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/29/not-aid-but-humiliation-a-desperate-search-for-food-in-gaza
Gaza : première semaine chaotique pour le nouveau groupe d’aide humanitaire controversé. Radio Canada. 31 mai 2025. Consulté sur : https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2168898/aide-humanitaire-ghf-gaza-famine-israel-palestine
Israel kills 23 Palestinians, destroys water desalination plant in Gaza. Anadolu Ajansi. 04.04.2025. Consulté sur : https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-kills-23-palestinians-destroys-water-desalination-plant-in-gaza-/3528083
Israël impose un «siège complet» à la bande de Gaza. Agence France Presse. 9 octobre 2023. Consulté sur : https://www.qub.ca/article/israel-impose-un-siege-complet-a-la-bande-de-gaza-1098232657?silent_auth=true
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La poliomyélite à Gaza : qu’est-ce que cela signifie ? WHO. Août 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.who.int/fr/news-room/commentaries/detail/children-in-gaza-are-now-at-risk-of-polio-as-well-as-bombs—we-need-a-ceasefire-now
Comment la vitrine suisse de la Fondation humanitaire de Gaza s’est écroulée. RTS. Juillet 2025. Consulté sur : https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2025/article/la-suisse-dissout-la-controversee-fondation-humanitaire-de-gaza-a-geneve-28931845.html