Why Airdrops in Gaza Pose Risks to Civilians

New York Times

4 days ago

Three countries have begun dropping boxes of aid by parachute into Gaza after Israel announced it would allow airdrops, and more are expected to follow. But aid experts warn that airdrops are dangerous and insufficient to tackle the widening hunger crisis there.
Britain's prime minister, Keir Starmer, said on Tuesday that 'U.K. aid has been airdropped into Gaza today.' The United Arab Emirates and Jordan started parachuting parcels into Gaza on Sunday in coordination with Israel, according to the Israeli military agency that regulates humanitarian affairs in Gaza.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it expanded aid efforts to include airdrops to 'improve the humanitarian response' and 'refute false claims of intentional starvation in Gaza.' Israeli officials have disputed allegations that they have limited the number of trucks delivering aid to Gaza by road, blaming the United Nations and its partners for failing to distribute hundreds of truckloads in Gaza.
But aid agencies working in Gaza, 21 months into the war, say parachuting crates of aid is a risky and inefficient alternative.
'Why use airdrops when you can drive hundreds of trucks through the borders?' said Juliette Touma, the chief spokeswoman for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. 'It's much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper,' she added.
In a statement, Doctors Without Borders called airdrop parcels, which can weigh one ton or more, 'notoriously ineffective and dangerous,' forcing people to 'risk their lives for food.'
In response to Israel's decision to allow airdrops, the United Nations' humanitarian agency said in a statement that 'All efforts to provide aid to the people who desperately need it are welcome.' It added, however, that the group and its partners 'say that airdrops are the last resort measure and carry risks for people on the ground.'
How airdrops work
Typically, airdrops are done by military planes carrying bundles of supplies and food. The supplies are loaded on pallets, flat platforms, and wrapped in netting to stay in place. Those pallets are attached to parachutes and pushed from the backs of aircrafts to reach delivery sites.
Aid pallets can weigh 1,200 pounds when packed with food and over 2,000 pounds when packed with water, according to an estimate by The Washington Institute, a foreign policy think tank.
Several countries, in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, dropped aid in Gaza last year, but stopped after some falling parcels killed and wounded people, and damaged property, and others landed in the sea or in Israel. Last year, at least five Palestinians were killed and several others injured in airdrop accidents, according to Gaza authorities.
But getting aid on the ground in Gaza has become far more dangerous. Responding to unrest at some aid sites, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly fired at crowds in past two months, killing hundreds of people.
The United Nations said in a statement that injuries were reported Sunday when packages fell on tents.
'When you're airdropping food, there's supposed to be a lot of preparation, planning and communication,' said Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, who previously supervised airdrop operations in Syria and Iraq for the U.S. government. 'You want to make sure you're dropping to a place where people know it's coming, that you can clear the area, and control that area so there's no risk of people being crushed.'
But in conflict zones like Gaza, it can be difficult to obtain such information and coordinate with those on the receiving end to ensure operations go smoothly, Mr. Konyndyk added.
The high cost of airdrops
Among the most common criticisms of airdrops is that they are expensive and inefficient compared to delivering aid by trucks. While the average plane can fit about two truckloads worth of aid, Mr. Konyndyk said, there is a much greater supply of available trucks and people to drive them.
Aid planes require specialized cargo and experienced crews, while any commercial truck driver can deliver aid by land. 'There is a limited volume of airplanes in the world that are available for this, and you need a specialized cargo, you need crews that are experienced' Mr. Konyndyk said. In contrast, there is 'a pretty big universe of people' who can drive trucks, he said.
While costs vary, Mr. Konyndyk estimated from his disaster relief experience in South Sudan that airdropped aid was roughly about 11 times as expensive per commodity as aid delivered by truck.
An analysis last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, calculated that airdrops in Gaza could cost as much as 42 times more than truck delivery, based on the cost-per-mile of each method.
Limits on medicine and water
Fragile goods, like certain medicines and water, are difficult to airdrop because they can be destroyed from the impact of landing.
'You don't fight famine with food alone,' Mr. Konyndyk said. 'Yes you need food, but you also need to be able to provide medical treatment.'
Those types of aid require on-the-ground service delivery and personnel.