'100 times more expensive': UNRWA slams costly Gaza airdrops, urges Israel to open land crossings

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has condemned airdrops of aid over Gaza as "100 times more expensive" than traditional land delivery and called for the immediate reopening of border crossings to prevent further starvation.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said on Friday that airdrops were an inefficient and insufficient way to respond to the worsening famine in Gaza, stressing that "trucks carry twice as much aid as planes" and that the political will to authorise costly airdrops should instead be channelled into reopening land routes.

"If there is political will to allow airdrops, which are expensive, insufficient and ineffective, there must also be political will to open land crossings," Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

He added that "as the people of Gaza starve to death, the only way to respond to famine is to flood Gaza with aid".

He revealed that 6,000 aid trucks loaded with supplies were stuck outside Gaza, awaiting Israeli clearance to enter.

Earlier this year, during a brief ceasefire, the UN and its partners, including UNRWA, were able to bring in 500 to 600 trucks per day - enough to reverse famine conditions without diversion or misuse of aid, Lazzarini said.

"The aid reached everyone in Gaza safely and with dignity. It succeeded in halting the spread of famine. There is no substitute for a coordinated UN response through UNRWA, which has proven it can deliver," he said, calling for a return to effective humanitarian mechanisms and a permanent ceasefire.

Gaza is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with forced starvation compounded by Israel’s military campaign, described by leading rights experts as genocide, and backed by the United States since October 2023.

Israel has kept all Gaza crossings closed since 2 March 2025, blocking food and medical aid from entering the besieged territory and accelerating the spread of famine.

According to Gaza's health ministry, at least 154 people, among them 89 children, have died from starvation or malnutrition-related illnesses since the start of the war.

Gaza’s authorities and aid agencies have repeatedly criticised the airdrop programme, saying its impact is minimal. According to local officials, three recent airdrops equalled the amount of aid carried by just two trucks.

Since 7 October, Israel’s military campaign has killed or injured more than 207,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, displaced hundreds of thousands, and left thousands missing under the rubble.