Airdrop Aid Packages on Gaza| Not Humanitarian Just a Publicity Stunt
Last week, I saw aid being dropped from the sky over our area, “Az-Zawayda,” in central Gaza. But neither I nor any of my neighbors could muster the courage to run after those packages, because we all knew that as soon as they hit the ground, a bloody fight would erupt to claim them.
It’s almost the same scene every time. As soon as the planes drop the food packets, people rush to grab them, and then the Israeli army starts firing. This firing causes ordinary people to flee, and pre-prepared groups take all the supplies. Later, these same “aid boxes” are seen in the markets of Deir al-Balah, where they are sold at exorbitantly high prices. They never reach those who truly need them the most.
Recently, my younger brother craved biscuits. I saw aid package biscuits in the market and asked the price; the response was: 20 shekels ($5) per biscuit, which was unaffordable for us.
This aid dropping from the sky not only fails to relieve the hungry but also kills them.
On Monday, an airdropped aid package fell on a displaced persons’ tent, and a medical worker named Uday Al-Quran, who was serving at Al-Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital, was killed. A week earlier, in northern Gaza, 11 people were injured when a similar pallet fell on tents. Last year, failed airdrops also took lives. Five people were killed in the Shati refugee camp when a parachute failed to open. Twelve people drowned while trying to retrieve boxes that fell into the sea. Six people died in a stampede to grab food.
This latest idea of airdropping aid was proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appealed for help from the world. Several governments welcomed the proposal and joined in, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and some European countries.
But Netanyahu knows full well that this airdropped aid cannot save Palestinians from starvation, which is why he opted for this method instead of opening Gaza’s land routes, where United Nations agencies could distribute aid in an organized manner, as has always been done.
In the eyes of the world, it may seem like something is being done to alleviate hunger, but inside Gaza, this aid is neither considered a real solution nor an expression of humanitarian compassion.
To us, it is merely a publicity stunt—a method adopted to cover up a crime. The same crime that has not stopped: besieging an entire population, starving them, blocking thousands of trucks from entering, and dropping a few boxes from the sky to show the world that “something is being done.” This is all part of a strategy to keep the cycle of hunger ongoing and reduce international pressure on Israel. But in reality, famine is rapidly increasing inside Gaza. People are dying of hunger every day.
Everyone knows that airdropped aid is not effective, and when other options are available, there is no justification for adopting this method. The United Nations has repeatedly stated that this method is ineffective, and land delivery is safer and better. A single truck can carry 4 to 10 times more aid than a parachute. And it is far cheaper. Thousands of trucks are standing at Egypt’s border, sufficient to provide food to people and prevent further deaths from hunger.
Yet, we are witnessing this meaningless spectacle in Gaza again. Here, we know not to look to the sky with hope. The same sky that rains bombs cannot rain food.
This “parachuted humanity” is merely a drama to hide the world’s shame, so it can soothe the guilt of staying silent while watching the people of Gaza die of hunger.
Gaza is not only under siege from bombardment and starvation but also from lies, conspiracies, and soft language that conceals a bloody massacre. The criminal is not only Israel; those who remain silent about this oppression, who provide justifications, who equate the killer with the killed—they are also complicit in this crime.
And we Palestinians are not just victims; we are witnesses. We are watching the world refuse to act. We are seeing which countries are supplying Israel with weapons, trading with it, and providing it with diplomatic protection. We are seeing Muslim governments finding excuses not to impose sanctions on the Zionist regime—despite being obligated to do so because Israel is committing genocide.
And when history is written tomorrow, it will not be written in diplomatic language but in the language of truth, and all the names complicit in the collective murder and starvation of Palestinians will be recorded in clear letters.
Written by: Mohammed Al-Tabaan (a local journalist from Gaza)
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