UN organization director states Israel’s Gaza assistance drops are smokescreen
(MENAFN) The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has criticized Israel’s food airdrops into Gaza, calling them an inadequate response to the growing hunger crisis in the region. He urged Israeli authorities to lift the blockade and allow humanitarian convoys into the enclave.
Lazzarini argued that air-dropping aid is a costly and inefficient method that does little to address the severe malnutrition impacting tens of thousands, particularly women and children. “Airdrops won’t end Gaza’s starvation,” he wrote on X. “They’re expensive, ineffective, and even dangerous—potentially fatal for starving civilians. It’s a smokescreen. Hunger caused by man requires political action.”
He called on Israel to open access routes for aid trucks, saying UNRWA has about 6,000 aid trucks waiting in Jordan and Egypt for clearance. Delivering aid by road, he emphasized, is faster, safer, and more dignified for the people of Gaza.
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had dropped seven pallets of aid, including flour, canned goods, and sugar. The military also stated it was willing to facilitate humanitarian convoys and may implement “local humanitarian pauses” to assist in distribution.
Footage circulating online shows Palestinians scrambling over food supplies, underscoring the desperate situation on the ground.
The international community, including UN bodies and European governments, has increased pressure on Israel as Gaza’s death toll nears 60,000. Israel says it is open to allowing more aid into the strip—but only if it avoids Hamas, which it accuses of diverting supplies. Both Hamas and the IDF have blamed each other for recent civilian casualties at aid distribution points.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that Israel must eliminate Hamas from Gaza after another round of ceasefire negotiations failed.
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