In a war where bombs fall indiscriminately and starvation is used as a tactic, Israel has opened a quieter, but equally devastating front: the systematic targeting of Gaza’s humanitarian workers and civil society. What remains of Gaza’s social fabric, its charities, aid volunteers, and grassroots networks, is now in the crosshairs of a military campaign determined not only to destroy buildings, but to erase hope.

Palestinian artist and volunteer Mahmoud Sharab was among the latest to be killed in Khan Younis, joining over 1,300 aid workers slain since the war began. The message from Israel, say activists and human rights groups, is chillingly clear: even those trying to heal, feed, or shelter others are no longer safe.

These attacks are not random. Gaza’s community networks have long filled the void left by international abandonment and official neglect. Now, as hospitals collapse and displacement soars, these lifelines have become military targets. Aid groups have seen their offices destroyed, their staff killed, and their work criminalised, on the ground and across international borders.

Israel has also intensified its campaign to cut off external support, pressuring Western governments and financial institutions to freeze funding for organisations helping Palestinians. Aid work is labelled a “security threat,” and humanitarian assistance is cast as complicity in terrorism. Even foreign nationals have not been spared, as seen in the airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in April.

Despite this, Gaza’s aid community presses on. Volunteers repair field hospitals, reopen bakeries, and carry medicine under fire, not for political gain, but to ensure life continues. As one activist put it, “Charitable work is Gaza’s last shield against collapse, and that’s precisely why it’s being dismantled.” This is not collateral damage. This is a war on resilience itself.