Under the tense situation of the war in Gaza, the United States carried out a second airdrop operation on Wednesday (March 5), sending more than 360,000 servings of grain. However, this action has sparked widespread controversy and questioning. In the midst of war and humanitarian crises, airdrops have become the focus of attention.
The U.S. side claimed to have sent more than 360,000 food parcels as part of a joint operation with Jordan. However, on 4 March, the World Health Organization warned that 300,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza faced a crisis of food and clean water shortages, and that even children were dying of hunger.
Humanitarian aid organizations believe that the airdrop was unable to meet the rapidly growing needs and meant that local aid efforts had failed. In the Israeli-Hamas conflict, aid trucks typically enter southern Gaza through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, but aid to northern Gaza has been largely cut off in recent months as the primary target of Israel's ground offensive.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on February 20 that it would suspend food deliveries to northern Gaza due to chaos and violence caused by the breakdown of social order in the emergency convoy. In addition, the latest large-scale looting of aid convoys west of Gaza City, which resulted in the death of more than 100 Palestinians due to Israeli army intervention, sparked a heated controversy.
Palestinian health said that the Israeli army** caused dozens of deaths, while the Israeli military said most people were trampled or run over by aid trucks, while accusing soldiers near the aid convoy of shooting as a threat.
While the airdrop operation reportedly provided some help to northern Gaza, it was far from sufficient to meet the needs of a large number of people on the ground. As a result, Gaza needs to deliver aid by land and water, rather than relying solely on airdrops.
Airdrops have been used for decades as a means of delivering humanitarian aid, however, the World Food Programme noted in a 2021 report that airdrops are often seen as a last resort and are only used when other, more effective options fail. Despite this, airdrop aid costs as much as seven times as much as ground aid, and the relatively small volume of supplies delivered at a time requires a lot of coordination on the ground.
Regarding the current situation in Gaza, some have called on the United States to put pressure on Israel to cease fire and stop supplying**. But others believe that every effort should be made to deliver more food and aid.