Aid airdrops to Gaza, more of a show than genuine humanitarian act
5 Min Read
The Government Media Office in Gaza reiterates its previous statement regarding the airdrop of aid, emphasizing that such operations are more of a display and publicity stunt than a humane approach.
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An image from a video posted on social media on March 8, 2024, shows airdropped aid parcels falling. (X)
The Government Media Office in Gaza called for the immediate and urgent opening of land crossings to allow thousands of tons of aid to enter, in order to prevent the deepening famine crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially in the north.
Commenting on the casualties resulting from the random air drops of aid, which led to the killing of 5 people and injury of several others, the office reiterated that such operations are not effective and are not the optimal way to deliver aid.
Five Palestinians, including two children, were killed on Friday due to an aid airdrop mishap, where at least one parachute malfunctioned, causing a package to fall on them. The tragic incident occurred in the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza at approximately 11:30 am local time.
Shocking…
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) March 8, 2024
Documentation by my colleague [@Hakeam_ps] reveals that an airdrop mission was done in a wrong way. A number of Palestinians (5) including 2 children were killed as the airdrop fell on their heads.
Parachutes didn’t open & descended very quickly over them pic.twitter.com/tV9SP3Tit0
This is what these humiliating and condescending air drops, which can't even feed 5 percent of North Gaza alone, are doing - malfunctioning parachutes from Egypt/U.S. airdrop kill 5 Palestinian souls after aid boxes plunged full force onto them. pic.twitter.com/VUVjn4c4nJ
— julia m.k. (@bintmachgara) March 8, 2024
The Government Media Office reported that nearly 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip are suffering significantly from severe shortages of food, water, medicine, and shelter.
The Office confirmed that 20 Palestinian citizens have died due to famine, and the number is likely to increase daily due to hunger, malnutrition, and drought, posing a threat to the lives of over 700,000 people experiencing severe hunger.
It reiterated its previous statement regarding the airdrop of aid, emphasizing that such operations are more of a display and publicity stunt than a humane, service-oriented approach. It warned that these actions pose a deadly threat to the citizens in the Gaza Strip.
The Government Media Office reported that nearly 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip are suffering significantly from severe shortages of food, water, medicine, and shelter.
The Office, in its statement, also pointed out that a portion of these aids ended up in the sea, near the separation barrier, or within areas controlled by the Israeli army, posing a danger to the lives of citizens attempting to access the aid.
It squarely placed the responsibility for the Israeli genocidal war against Palestinians, the ensuing famine, and the perpetuation of a starvation policy on the US administration, the international community, and “Israel". The office also urged the free nations worldwide to exert pressure on the occupation to cease genocide and starvation and to permit the entry of aid.
Airdropping Gaza aid cannot substitute land deliveries: UN coordinator
The UN aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip emphasized, on Thursday, after a closed-door Security Council meeting that delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza by airdrops or sea cannot sufficiently substitute land deliveries.
Sigrid Kaag said her message to the UN Security Council was that the international community must "flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods" and "re-energize the private sector" so that more commercial goods can enter to meet civilians' needs.
"The diversification of the supply routes via land" remains the optimal solution, she stressed.
"It's easier, it's faster, it's cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time."
Asked about the main obstacles to delivering aid to the people of Gaza, Kaag pointed to the complicated border inspection process by the Israeli occupation forces.
"If everything goes through one or two crossings, it's harder to process. Verification checking takes time. There are cumbersome processes," she said.
Stephane Dujarric, the UN Secretary-General's spokesperson, said that trucks arriving at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border must be unloaded after inspection and then reloaded, often onto smaller trucks.
"And then we need to find ways to distribute it; we need to find ways to facilitate that distribution in many areas, which requires the security coordination with the Israeli forces," he added.
'Israel' using starvation tactic in Gaza to destroy food system: UN
A UN expert has lately warned that the Israeli occupation was destroying Gaza's food system as part of a larger "starvation campaign".
According to Reuters, in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, asserted that the UN was "doing nothing" as "unbearable" images surfaced from Gaza.
Aid authorities have warned of a potential famine, while hospitals in the besieged Strip's remote northern region report that children are dying of starvation.
Fakhri told the council that "Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza," adding that this included fishermen.
Read more: Famine in Gaza causing women to give birth to stillborn babies
