ANKARA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) called Sunday for aid access into the blockaded Gaza Strip to help ease a worsening famine in the enclave.

“Why use airdrops when you can drive hundreds of trucks through the borders?” UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma told The New York Times.
“It’s much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper.”

Foreign media earlier reported that Israel would allow airdrops by Western countries for two days in Gaza starting Friday to ease catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the territory.

According to Touma, the UNRWA currently has the equivalent of 6,000 aid trucks waiting for clearance to enter Gaza.

“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation in Gaza,” she warned, calling for “lifting the siege, opening the gates, and guaranteeing safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, and since March 2 has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of aid convoys and ignoring international calls to reopen them.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 133 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 87 children.

On Tuesday, the World Food Program warned that one-third of Gaza’s population had gone several days without eating due to the continued Israeli blockade.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.