The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said that planned airdrops of aid into Gaza would not solve severe food shortages caused by months of restrictions on the entry of supplies.
“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X, calling the wave of hunger affecting Gaza “man made”.
An Israeli official said yesterday that aid drops in Gaza would resume soon, adding they would be conducted by the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with international NGOs warning of soaring malnutrition among children.
Palestinians seen mourning the deaths of relatives as bodies are brought to al-Shifa hospital
“Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements + dignified access to people in need,” Mr Lazzarini said, referring to the various entry points under Israeli control that regulate access into Gaza.
Israel imposed a total blockade on the entry of aid into Gaza on 2 March after talks to extend a ceasefire broke down. It began to allow a trickle of aid to enter again in late May.
The UN and NGOs on the ground have decried the severe scarcity facing Gaza’s 2.4 million people, with shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel.
#Gaza: airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians.
It is a distraction & screensmoke.
A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.
Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements…
Israel’s military said that the country did “not limit the number of trucks going into the Gaza Strip”, and that humanitarian organisations and the UN were not collecting the aid once it was inside the territory.
Humanitarian organisations accuse the Israeli army of imposing excessive restrictions on the goods allowed into Gaza and on the routes made available to transport the aid to distribution points.
The United Arab Emirates, Jordan, France and other countries carried out airdrops in Gaza in 2024, at a time when the transport of aid on land routes also faced restrictions.
Many in the humanitarian community consider such drops to be ineffective and dangerous due to the relatively small volumes of deliveries and the risk of aid seekers being killed by landing crates, as has previously happened in Gaza.
Thousands of people turned out at a noisy protest against the food shortages in Gaza banging pots and pans before leaving them at the gates of Downing Street
UK ‘taking forward’ plan to airdrop food into Gaza
Earlier, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told French and German leaders that the UK will be “taking forward” plans to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance in Gaza with partners like Jordan.
Mr Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz agreed to work “closely together on a plan” to “pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region”, Downing Street said.
In a readout of the Prime Minister’s call with the French President and German Chancellor, a Number 10 spokesperson said: “The three leaders talked about the situation in Gaza, which they agreed is appalling, and emphasised the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and urgently provide those suffering in Gaza with the food they so desperately need.
The leaders all agreed it would be “vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace”.
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They discussed their intention to “work closely together on a plan, building on their collaboration to date, which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region.”
“They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it.
Mr Starmer also rejected calls from MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state, while Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that recognising the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.
Some 221 MPs have signed a letter urging the British Government to recognise the state of Palestine at a meeting of the UN next week.
The UK would follow in the footsteps of France if it did, after Mr Macron announced on Thursday that France would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
Senior Labour MP Sarah Champion, who co-ordinated the cross-party letter, said recognition “would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people”.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would formally recognise the State of Palestine in September
While Mr Starmer said he was “unequivocal” about wanting to see a Palestinian state, he insisted this needed to be part of a “wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis”.
The UK and its allies must work together to broker a peace, he added, likening the effort to the coalition of the willing to support Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump, who is currently visiting Scotland, has said Mr Macron’s announcement was “not going to change anything”.
Ms Meloni meanwhile said that while she was very much in favour of a Palestinian state, she was “not in favour of recognising it prior to establishing it”.
“If something that doesn’t exist is recognised on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn’t,” Ms Meloni added.
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France’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September drew condemnation from Israel and the United States, amid the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Yesterday, Italy’s foreign minister said recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with recognition of Israel by the new Palestinian entity.
A German government spokesperson said that Berlin was not planning to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term and said its priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” towards a two-state solution.
