Aid agencies criticised air drops into Gaza as ‘grotesque distraction’published at 04:18 British Summer Time
Joe Inwood
World news correspondent
Before Israel resumed aid airdrops to Gaza, I spoke to some of the world’s biggest and most respected aid agencies to get their perspective.
Between the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) there was near unanimity.
“In a case where we are facing widespread starvation, any amount of food is better than none,” said Shaina Low of the NRC. “But the amount of aid that can come through air drops is just a fraction of what can be delivered through trucks through the land crossings.”
Ciarán Donnelly of the IRC is stronger in his message: “Aid drops are a grotesque distraction from the reality of what’s needed on the ground in Gaza right now. They can never deliver the volume, the consistency or the quality of aid and services that’s needed.”
“At the same time, it doesn’t allow us to distribute aid in the most effective way, as you don’t know who will get it,” Nebal Farsakh from the IFRC says.
That seems to be the primary objection. Air drops are just not able to meet the vast – and growing – humanitarian needs on the ground in Gaza.
