Hamas condemns Israeli-approved Gaza 'aid airdrops' as stunt amid soaring starvation
The resistance movement is demanding a humanitarian corridor to allow aid trucks to enter Gaza to alleviate the Israeli-created famine
A senior Hamas official condemned Israel’s decision on 25 July to allow foreign countries to resume airdrops of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, calling the move a “stunt” that does little to alleviate the deepening famine.
“The Gaza Strip does not need flying aerobatics,” said Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza Government Media Office, in a statement to Reuters. “It needs an open humanitarian corridor and a steady daily flow of aid trucks to save what remains of the lives of besieged, starving civilians.”
His comments came after the Israeli Army Radio quoted a military official on Friday saying that Israel would permit foreign governments to parachute aid into Gaza. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for clarification.
The announcement follows earlier US and Israeli efforts in 2024 to use airdrops and a temporary maritime port to deliver aid – plans widely criticized as symbolic and ineffective.
At the time, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Fakhri called the airdrops “absurd” and “cynical,” warning that they would do little to slow famine while creating chaos as desperate civilians scrambled for supplies.
In March 2024, at least five Palestinians were killed – and several injured – when an airdropped supply pallet fell into a crowd in northern Gaza after its parachute failed to deploy correctly.
The airdrops and maritime port were used as a pretext to dismantle and replace UNRWA, the primary provider of aid to Gaza under Israel’s embargo and bombing of the strip.
Despite international aid initiatives, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate since Israel launched its genocidal military campaign in October 2023.
Israeli bombardment and a strict blockade have crippled Gaza’s infrastructure, decimated supply chains, and triggered a hunger crisis that health experts now say affects nearly every resident of the territory.
On 24 July, the New York Times reported that starvation is spreading rapidly. “There is no one in Gaza now outside the scope of famine, not even myself,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, head of the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
He described how children with no pre-existing conditions were dying of hunger, including 11-month-old Siwar Barbaq, who weighs just nine pounds – less than half of what a child her age should weigh.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned this week that Gaza is experiencing “new and astonishing levels of desperation,” with one-third of the population going without food for multiple days. Doctors and aid agencies report rising deaths due to malnutrition, especially among children.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 9 have died from starvation in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll from famine and malnutrition in the strip to 122 – including 83 children.
Human rights experts, including officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC), have accused Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war, part of a broader strategy to forcibly displace Gaza's 2.1 million population and open the strip for Jewish settlement.