Structural hypocrisy in humanitarian aid: a justice-oriented counter-story of how donors fund both relief and destruction in Gaza

Background: The latest military assault on Gaza by Israel, which began after 7 October 2023, has led to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, with tens of thousands killed, nearly two million displaced, and famine officially declared in 2024. The near-total siege cut off food, water, electricity, and medical supplies, while relentless bombardments destroyed critical infrastructure, rendering Gaza unliveable. Many donor nations have simultaneously provided humanitarian aid to Gaza while supplying military assistance to Israel, underscoring the structural hypocrisy in international responses to the catastrophe in Gaza. Methods: In this article, we introduce and develop the concept of justice-oriented counter-stories (JOCS) to critically examine how quantitative datasets on humanitarian aid flows can distort reality and obscure key disparities. Using aid to Gaza in 2023–2024 as a case study, we apply JOCS to identify biases in official reporting and make statistical adjustments to offer an alternative perspective. Results: Our justice-oriented analytical lens shows how the countries humanitarian aid rankings shift significantly when we factor in donor nations’ GDP, and the structural hypocrisy of offering humanitarian aid while simultaneously providing significant military assistance to Israel. Our paper also identifies some of the key methodological challenges in making such adjustments. Conclusion: We conclude by emphasising the broader implications of “justice-oriented counter-stories” for understanding not only aid flows, but social justice and the representation of social and environmental issues.