Over the past year or so, I have often used a fictional scenario to explain why and how the International Disaster Response Network will work to highlight best practices as we are reshaping IDRN to have new priorities. This fictional scenario starts with the idea of four or five different groups independently distributing food in a disaster situation. The example offered is that of the groups distributing the food, it’s likely that some are doing a better job than others… noting that when it’s done poorly, it’s possible that a riot can emerge. With pointing that out, the idea is that IDRN will promote best practices – and in this case, the best approaches to distributing food – and then everyone who has been exposed to these best practices would be more likely to use those. And with that, hopefully fewer riots will happen.

Recently, this hypothetical story got real – and in this case, maybe a bit too real.

On May 28, 2025, four Palestinians died when hundreds of desperate, starving individuals stormed a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, in a frantic attempt to secure food supplies. Two people were fatally crushed in the chaos, and two others died from gunshot wounds, though it remains unclear who fired the shots. This incident followed a separate event on May 27, where at least one Palestinian was killed and 48 others, including women and children, were wounded by gunfire at a new aid distribution site in Rafah, operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the U.S. The Israeli military claimed it fired only warning shots, while the GHF denied its contractors opened fire. These tragedies underscore the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

To be fair, in this extreme situation, there is no consensus as to what constitutes best practices. With the real-world challenges of food distribution in crisis zones, where desperation can overwhelm even the most well-intentioned systems, things go wrong. Best intentions do not overcome unfortunate scenarios. And in this case, IDRN does not pretend to think it would have the answers. However, a vision for IDRN’s focus on best practices does not ultimately require universal alignment on best practices. What should be possible is fostering healthy discussion and debate with the hope that others can learn from those different opinions. And in most cases, IDRN’s focus on best practices will likely center on less volatile and/or less complicated situations. Nevertheless, the example I’ve been using for IDRN vision casting is clearly real.

In this situation, there is no need to go deep into the differences of opinion on why this latest tragedy happened – at least not in this article. These events in Gaza serve as a stark reminder that effective food distribution is not a theoretical exercise but a life-or-death challenge requiring careful planning and adherence to humanitarian standards. Good practices such as prioritized accessibility, neutrality, and safety, ensuring aid reaches those in need without fostering dependency or control are the kinds of considerations we hope all IDRN members will become increasingly aware of over time. When we repeatedly talk about IDRN’s focus on increasing awareness, it’s not just awareness of people, groups, resources, and who is responding in any given crisis event. The increased awareness definitely includes increasing everyone’s understanding of best practices.