3 months Ago
Olga Cherevko from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA also called any aid effort positive and said there was "no alternative to land going through. It was more cost-effective to move large quantities in trucks, she said.
Jordan, at whose request the operation was approved by the Dutch government last week. Caretaker Ministers Veldkamp (Foreign Affairs) and Brekelmans (Defence) described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "catastrophic". It is scheduled to make daily flights over the next two weeks carrying shipments of bottled drinking water, medicine and non-perishable food.
Concerns Over Effectiveness and Safety
As the Israeli security cabinet approved expanding the war, including Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans for a Gaza City occupation, the first Dutch airdrop took place. Mirthe Bosch, a humanitarian expert at Oxfam Novib, said that with thousands of trucks ready to deliver aid across border crossings, "airdrops should only be conducted as a last resort if no other option is possible". There, people are spared, and this is called a "gestural alleviation of the political conscience, as she called it.
Much of the population is on the brink of starvation as little international aid is allowed into the enclave. Israel shut down its borders completely in March, and even though some food has been allowed in after international pressure, the flow is slow. Aid organisations emphasise that the current realities stipulate that there be massive food and medicine deliveries, with one out of three Palestinians unable to get a meal in days, as per the IPC. The World Food Programme warns that people are dying from starvation every day, and UNWRA director Philippe Lazzarini has described the aid restrictions as a "diversion and a smokescreen".
The system is too full of risks and unequal access to supplies
Airdrops — Airdrops present certain risks as distribution cannot be determined. But feeling that packages often end up in the ocean or restricted areas, Cherevko pointed out "…we are talking about real people here, because they can get hurt in some cases the parachute did not open at all and died" Even the more substantial figures often amount to only one meal a day for most residents, but that is far better than the alternative, according to Bosch who described it as "inhumane" that tens of thousands of desperate civilians must queue for food and conflicting priorities mean aid is too often delayed or wasted. There have also been reports of armed groups confiscating supplies. Bosch said: "Direct access is a must, and it can be done if there is political will."
