Research groups Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation have published a report titled The Architecture of Genocidal Starvation in Gaza, which found Israel to have used aid distribution to displace and starve Palestinians in Gaza.

The report examined two models of aid distribution in Gaza and found that an Israeli “military model” of aid distribution has strategically dismantled an earlier established “civilian model”.

Forensic Architecture looked at methods of aid distribution and attacks on aid infrastructure from 18 March 2025, when Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas, and 1 August, using spatial analysis and open-source research to create annotated maps of Gaza and a text report that was supported by research from the World Peace Foundation.

Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation have published a report titled The Architecture of Genocidal Starvation in Gaza

In the report, the civilian model was defined by aid distributed through international humanitarian organisations, such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, with the support of local groups.

The military model was defined by aid distributed via food points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-based non-governmental organisation backed by the USA and Israel that was founded in February 2025. It also included aid airdropped by Israel and other countries.

The report argued that Israel has strategically used the military model of aid distribution to dismantle the civilian model, leading to a point of starvation in Gaza.

It included maps related to aid distribution in Gaza

“Our findings show how Israel has systematically dismantled the long-standing and effective ‘civilian model’ of aid distribution through aid organisations and the local community,” said Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation in the report.

“In its place, Israel has established a ‘military model’ of aid distribution which carries out starvation rationing,” they continued.

“Through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and airdropped aid, Israel has created dependency upon a system which is, we conclude, deadly by design.”

Published on 22 August to coincide with a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which determined that famine is currently happening in Gaza, Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation’s report argued that Israel has sought to use aid distribution as a method to displace Palestinians and dismantle social and civil structures in Gaza.

It also claimed that Israel has made reaching aid deadly and dangerous for civilians.

The report documented 58 incidents of Israeli attacks on those seeking aid, 19 of which took place close to aid routes and 25 of which happened at ration stations – locations run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that distribute dry food to individuals.

The report found Israel to have used aid distribution to displace and starve people in Gaza

“This report focuses on an Israeli system of aid distribution that ostensibly feeds Palestinians in Gaza, while in fact, according to our analysis, constituting a programme of intentional mass starvation on two levels,” said Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation.

“First, the starvation of individuals through the provision of starvation rations or no rations at all, and second, the use of mass starvation as a means of destroying the social order among the population of Gaza as a whole, towards the dismantling of the foundations of a functioning society in the region, and the separation of that population from its land.”

“The militarised model cannot be considered ‘humanitarian’, even in the most limited sense, in that it is not humane,” they continued. “It is more accurately seen as a tool for population control, depriving the Palestinian population in Gaza of the conditions necessary for life, within the logic of a continued genocidal assault by Israel against the population.”

The report claims that Israel’s methods of aid distribution are “deadly by design”

Maps by Forensic Architecture show that three of the four existing ration stations are located in a military zone in the south of Gaza, and the other is located in a military zone in central Gaza. All ration stations are situated south of the fortified Netzarim Corridor, meaning Palestinians in the north of Gaza cannot access them.

Other maps depicted incidents of diversions on aid distribution routes, attacks on aid infrastructure, including roads, warehouses, kitchens and water points, and attacks on civilians seeking aid.

According to the report, some civilians have to walk up to six hours round-trip to collect aid from the ration stations.

This issue is exacerbated by the fact that the stations are open for an average of just 23 minutes each day. From 19 June, the average fell to 10 minutes.

The report also found that on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Facebook page, 60 per cent of announcements for the opening and closing of ration stations were made less than an hour before the station opening. Because of this, it argued, civilians are queuing overnight and camping closer to the stations, nearer militarised zones.

“The Israeli-sanctioned system is making reaching aid deadly, as Gazans are forced between slowly starving or risking their lives trying to access food,” Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation said.

“People are killed and injured both when seeking the little aid still available through the civilian model, as well as at and around the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation ration stations.”

The UK and 31 international partners released a statement in July calling for Israel to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid in Gaza, which claimed “the Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity”. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied starvation in Gaza and has claimed issues with aid distribution are caused by Hamas.

Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas’ attacks on 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. According to figures from Gaza’s health ministry, over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s most recent military campaign.

In November last year, Forensic Architecture developed an interactive map showing the destruction of buildings, infrastructure and aid in Gaza. Earlier this year, the group’s founder, Eyal Weizman, told Dezeen how Israel’s ongoing war has changed the way it approaches its research work.

The images are by Forensic Architecture.

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