More than 170 non-governmental organisations have called for a US- and Israel-backed food aid distribution scheme in Gaza to be dismantled over concerns it is putting civilians at risk of death and injury, Reuters reports.

As of early afternoon in Geneva, where the joint declaration was released, 171 charities had signed onto the call for countries to press Israel to halt the GHF scheme and reinstate aid coordinated through the United Nations.

“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the statement said.

Groups signing it included Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Amnesty International. The NGOs accused the GHF of forcing hungry and weak people to trek for hours, sometimes through active conflict zones, to receive food aid.

More than 500 people have been killed in mass shootings near aid distribution centres or transport routes guarded by Israeli forces since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operating in late May, according to medical authorities in Gaza.

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