Airdrops of food into Gaza are a desperate measure — intended to help, but fraught with danger, inequity, and unintended harm

[Eva Libre]

Airdrops of food into Gaza are a desperate measure — intended to help, but fraught with danger, inequity, and unintended harm.

Yes, I appreciate every sincere effort to bring aid into Gaza. The famine is real, brutal, and entirely man-made — engineered by Israeli politicians who have chosen to starve an entire population rather than prioritize the release of hostages, who are also suffering and should be freed immediately.

But let’s be honest: airdrops are not a dignified or effective solution. They are risky, inefficient, and, in some cases, deadly.

Israel controls roughly 80% of Gaza, while most Palestinians are crammed along the coast, displaced and sheltering in makeshift camps. That leaves only narrow and chaotic strips of land where aid can possibly land. Many of these airdrops fall into so-called “red zones” — areas under active threat of attack. Retrieving aid from these zones means risking your life. Gaza is now a graveyard of shattered buildings and crumbling infrastructure. People have been crushed by falling debris while scrambling for food. Others have been killed outright by aid pallets crashing down from the sky.

These are not rare accidents. This is the grim reality of what it means to survive when food falls from the sky but safety doesn’t.

The drop zones have become scenes of desperation and violence. Starving civilians claw through rubble, barbed wire, and chaos. Some are stabbed. Some are trampled. Others are lynched. There is no fairness, no protection, and no dignity in this kind of aid.

Still, the footage looks good. Airdrops make for dramatic headlines. Governments love them — they film well, play well, and allow officials to claim "we did something." But let’s be clear: no air force in the world can replace the delivery capacity of 600 trucks a day. It’s an illusion of relief, not the reality of it. And it’s extraordinarily expensive.

Here’s the bitter irony: last year, our kitchen prepared rice from an airdrop. Not because we received it as aid — but because someone intercepted it, sold it to us on the black market. The bag was still marked with a label from a mall in Amman.

So yes, airdrops might help someone survive a day. But they’ve also killed starving Palestinians. When sacks of food crush the very people they were meant to save, that is not humanitarian relief — it’s spectacle. It’s a headline, not a lifeline.

Other so-called solutions have failed too. The U.S. pier was an ill-advised vanity project. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — once framed as a workaround — has devolved into a criminal enterprise and, in effect, a silent partner in genocide.

Gaza doesn’t need more symbolism. It doesn’t need clever stunts or performative gestures. It needs what works: land access, fuel, and the freedom to feed itself.

UNRWA and the UN humanitarian cluster have the experience, the infrastructure, and the trust to do this right. They are essential. Empower them — don’t undermine them.

Gaza doesn’t need sacks falling from the sky. It needs justice, coordination, and sustained, unhindered relief.

Disclaimer: These are my personal views, shaped by firsthand experience on the ground and deep concern for the lives being lost. They do not represent any organization, institution, or collective. They reflect what I see, what I hear, and what I cannot stay silent about.

Hani Almadhoun
www.gazasoupkitchen.org