Gaza Herald- Israel has allowed airdrops of aid into the enclave last week, but UN agencies have strongly criticized the delivery mechanism as expensive, impractical and extremely dangerous.
UNRWA described aid airdrops as a distraction and a smokescreen, warning: “Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians”.
The current aid being dropped from military planes into Gaza is ‘dangerous to civilians’ on the ground in the war-torn enclave, according to Juliette Touma of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
In an interview, Touma highlighted the urgent need to allow the UN to carry out its work in Gaza, enabling the effective and organized distribution of aid to meet the needs of two million starving people.
UNRWA called on countries to pressure Israel to lift the siege, open the crossings, and guarantee safe movement and dignified access for people in need — allowing the UN, UNRWA, and their partners to operate at scale, free from bureaucratic or political obstacles.
Touma made her remarks after UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini stated that the ongoing airdrops are “at least 100 times more expensive than delivering aid by trucks.”
Lazzarini noted that UNRWA has 6,000 aid trucks waiting to enter Gaza, where famine conditions have worsened. She said, “Trucks carry twice as much as planes.”
“If there is political will to allow airdrops – which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings,” Lazzarini reported on social media.
“As the people of #Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance,” he added.
