Videos reveal challenges with aid airdrops in Gaza amidst humanitarian efforts

In an initiative to increase aid delivery to Palestinians, many countries have resorted to using aid drops from aircraft as an alternative method, given the challenges of delivering aid by land to Gaza.

UNRWA has highlighted the difficulties faced in delivering aid to Gaza, with Israeli authorities reportedly denying about 51% of planned missions by UNRWA and its humanitarian partners.

Trucks carrying aid have encountered significant obstacles entering the Gaza Strip due to security constraints and temporary closures at border crossings.

According to UNRWA, only an average of 159 aid trucks per day crossed into Gaza in March, falling far short of the 500 trucks needed to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people.

Given the logistical challenges at border crossings, countries intending to send humanitarian aid have turned to air transportation.

On Wednesday (20 Mar), Singapore successfully conducted its first humanitarian airdrop into Gaza, delivering crates filled with vital food and essential items via parachutes.

On 8 March, President Jokowi announced Indonesia’s plan to send immediate aid to Gaza via Hercules aircraft.

Collaborating with Jordan, the United States carried out additional aid airdrops on 7 March, dropping over 38,000 meals in northern Gaza to provide life-saving support and facilitate civilian access to critical aid.

However, despite these efforts, it has emerged that aid drops from aircraft may not be as effective in assisting Palestinians in need.

A recent video circulating on social media has shed light on the challenges faced by Palestinians in receiving aid drops.

Uploaded on Sunday (10 Mar) March via Anas Al-Sharif’s Twitter account, the video features a young Palestinian boy expressing frustration and sorrow over the perceived inefficiency of aid deliveries.

In the video, the boy questions the logic behind dropping aid from aircraft so far from their homes, often into the sea, rather than closer or directly to those in need.

He expresses his feelings of humiliation, stating, “They are humiliating us by dropping the aid into the sea with a parachute.”

Highlighting his family’s residence in Tal al-Zaatar, the boy describes the disconnect between aid drops and their actual location, lamenting, “We would come here like dogs.”

Despite efforts to reach the airdrop locations to procure meals for his siblings, he recounts receiving nothing from these deliveries.

The boy raises poignant questions about the effectiveness of such distribution methods, advocating for direct assistance to families in need.

He emphasizes the plight of widows struggling to feed their hungry children, stating, “How is she going to run her for her children? Her young children who can’t even eat!”

In light of the famine facing the residents of northern Gaza, a child expresses his anger and sadness at the futility of airdrops pic.twitter.com/OcZdaNqDFl

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) March 9, 2024

Another video highlighting the ineffectiveness of aid airdrops surfaced also shared by the same user on Sunday (10 Mar).

The footage captured the disappointment of Palestinian citizens who had gathered in the northern area of Gaza in hopes of obtaining aid dropped by air near the Zikim settlement.

Despite their efforts to reach the location and risking their safety in the process, the citizens were dismayed to find that most of the aid consisted of water bottles and empty bags.

In the video, individuals are seen displaying the water bottles and empty bags they received from the aid airdrops.

Tragically, earlier reports detailed casualties in Gaza, with five individuals killed and ten injured when hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory during a humanitarian airdrop.