UN Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher has spoken with devastating clarity: “It is a famine. The Gaza Famine. A famine we could have prevented, if we had been allowed.” He calls this crisis “a famine on all of our watch… that must spur the world to more urgent action.”

For over 20 years, The Daniel Braden Encompass Trust has existed with the mission of building bridges across divides, encouraging understanding, and reminding people of one another’s humanity. Those goals can feel painfully distant while war rages on. The famine in Gaza is the catastrophic consequence of what happens when empathy is lost, when walls harden and when human beings are dehumanised.

And yet, we know there are still individuals, communities, and organisations on both sides who are refusing to give up on peace. Their persistence matters. It shows us that even in despair, the possibility of dialogue and reconciliation remains alive.

We believe that the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza must end. Families should not face “a famine within a few hundred metres of food.” Aid must be allowed in at scale, and there must be an urgent ceasefire — one that stops the destruction in Gaza while also ensuring that Israeli hostages are safely returned.

In the words of Mr Fletcher, “Open the crossings, north and south, all of them. Let us get food and other supplies in, unimpeded and at the massive scale required. End the retribution…for humanity’s sake”.