Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups in Gaza have issued a stark warning to residents, accusing U.S.-funded aid distribution centres of facilitating arrests and enforced disappearances under the cover of humanitarian relief. In a joint statement released Monday, the groups placed full responsibility on the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” for the safety of dozens detained in and around these centres.

According to the statement, these aid sites have been co-opted by Israeli forces operating in coordination with foreign intelligence services, including U.S. personnel, turning what should be lifelines into mechanisms of repression. The groups described the facilities as part of a broader campaign of starvation and extermination against the Palestinian people.

The organisations documented 62 cases of enforced disappearance in the past month alone, calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently investigate and demand transparency over detainees’ whereabouts and treatment.

“These are not centres of aid, they are traps,” the statement read, urging Palestinians to avoid the sites and exercise extreme caution across the Strip. The warning comes amid growing mistrust of international aid operations in Gaza, where hunger is widespread and every attempt to access food can now mean risking arrest or worse.

The groups reaffirmed their commitment to defending the rights and dignity of Palestinian prisoners, calling for international solidarity with a besieged population facing not only famine, but a system of entrapment under the guise of humanitarianism.