On July 28 the Israeli military announced it will resume airdrops of food water and medical kits into Gaza after weeks of severely restricted land access. The move comes amid daily pauses in fighting of up to ten hours in select areas intended to ease a mounting starvation crisis for more than two million residents.
The hunger related death toll in Gaza has reached 133 since the conflict began in October 2023 including dozens of children. Aid agencies warn that one in three people in the enclave has gone days without food and that over 90 000 women and children now require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition.
Earlier this month Jordan and the United Arab Emirates conducted joint airdrops delivering some twenty five metric tons of flour sugar and canned goods under a temporary pause in hostilities. This was the first large scale parachute delivery since May and underscored the limits of land convoys in reaching starving families.
Land trucks currently average just seventy aid deliveries per day compared with the 500 required to meet basic needs. Slow inspections at checkpoints and ongoing security restrictions have forced desperate Gazans to risk their lives waiting at distribution points.
Humanitarian organisations and UN officials say that only a full ceasefire combined with sustained large scale aid deliveries managed by the United Nations can avert mass famine. They urge Israel to open secure corridors real time monitoring and unfettered access for convoy operations to protect civilians and ensure timely distribution.
Experts stress that long term resilience will depend on lifting all restrictions on aid access investing in early warning networks and establishing neutral oversight at entry points. Strengthening water and food infrastructure alongside reliable logistics is critical to prevent future waves of starvation and safeguard Gaza’s urban and rural communities.