On August 9, 2025, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reached another tragic milestone when 15-year-old Muhannad Zakaria Eid was killed by a falling aid pallet during an airdrop near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, footage from the scene showed family and bystanders rushing to help, but the boy succumbed to his injuries. Eid’s brother, speaking to Reuters, described how Muhannad had ventured out to collect desperately needed aid dropped from planes, only to be struck and killed by a heavy box. “Despite the famine and the hard conditions that we live in, my brother went to get aid that was dropped into the sea by planes. A box fell on him directly and he was martyred,” he said, expressing sorrow and anger at the dangerous method of delivery.
The incident is not isolated. Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 23 Palestinians have been killed and 124 wounded in airdrops of humanitarian aid, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. The office has repeatedly warned that these methods are both inhumane and dangerous, calling instead for the safe and sufficient entry of aid through land crossings. “We have repeatedly warned of the danger of these inhumane methods and have repeatedly called for the entry of aid through land crossings in a safe and sufficient manner, especially food, infant milk, medicines, and medical supplies,” the office stated.
Medical sources and eyewitnesses in Gaza, as reported by Shahab News Agency and Mizan, say that aerial aid shipments have caused casualties among women and children, destroyed tents, and damaged already scarce facilities. “We were waiting for help to feed our children, but one of the aerial aid shipments fell on our tent and nearly killed us all,” said Umm Ahmed, a refugee in Al-Shati camp in western Gaza City. Another resident, Abdul Halim Hussein, noted, “The experience of air-dropped aid clearly shows its ineffectiveness in alleviating the severe hunger of Gaza’s residents. The small quantities dropped are insufficient to meet people’s needs amid intense hunger.”
Legal experts and humanitarian organizations have joined in criticizing the airdrop approach. They argue that these deliveries are more spectacle than solution, often serving as dramatic footage for donor countries’ media rather than truly alleviating suffering on the ground. The European Mediterranean Human Rights Center labeled the airdrops as “promoting the illusion of aid,” while Oxfam stated, “Air drops and some aid trucks cannot solve Gaza’s months-long deliberate hunger. We need to open crossings for full, unhindered aid delivery and establish a ceasefire.”
Juliet Touma, media director for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was blunt in her assessment: “Land delivery is much easier, more effective, faster, and cheaper. Air drops do not solve severe hunger.” She emphasized that as of early August, 6,000 aid trucks were waiting at crossings, pending Israeli approval. Yet, UNRWA itself has not been allowed to bring any humanitarian aid—including food and medicine—into Gaza for more than five months, leaving residents without basic necessities.
The situation on the ground is dire. In the 24 hours before August 9, 2025, Palestinian health authorities reported that 39 people in Gaza were killed by Israeli forces, including 21 who were waiting for humanitarian aid and 11 who died of starvation. Since the war began, at least 212 people—98 of them children—have died from malnutrition, with most of these deaths occurring in recent weeks as Israel continues to restrict aid entry, despite a partial lifting of the blockade in late May. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, warned, “Malnutrition among children leads to decreased immunity and may lead to death.”
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has called for Israel to allow at least 100 aid trucks per day into Gaza. Yet, only 60 WFP truck drivers have been vetted and approved by the Israeli military. Since July 27, 2025, 266 WFP trucks have been turned back at crossing points, including 31 percent that had initially been approved. The organization cited frequent last-minute changes by Israeli authorities and dangerous conditions due to ongoing military operations as major obstacles. Other UN agencies and Gaza authorities estimate that 600 trucks per day are needed to meet even the basic needs of Gaza’s residents.
Residents and aid workers alike point to the chaos and danger associated with aerial drops. Palestinian journalist Youssef Faris recounted, “One of the aid parachutes landed directly on refugees’ tents in the Al-Karama area in northern Gaza, injuring or possibly killing them all.” He also described criminal gangs exploiting the chaos at drop sites to steal supplies, further depriving the hungry. Mohammed Basheer, another resident, argued that “aerial aid poses a major danger because it falls on tents or damaged homes, which serve as shelters for Gaza residents. The solution is land delivery of aid, as one truck can carry as much aid as several aerial shipments.”
Despite the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, Israeli military actions have continued unabated. On August 9, 2025, Israeli forces killed at least 47 people in attacks across Gaza, including dozens waiting for aid, according to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera. Six people were killed by Israeli soldiers while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Corridor, and two others were killed at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site in southern Gaza. An Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis killed one woman and wounded another. The overall death toll since October 2023 stands at least at 61,369 Palestinians killed and 152,850 wounded. On the Israeli side, 1,139 people were killed during Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, with more than 200 taken captive.
The crisis is further exacerbated by Israel’s latest plan to seize Gaza City, a move approved by the Israeli Security Cabinet in early August 2025. This operation could forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into so-called concentration zones in southern Gaza. The international community has responded with growing alarm. Foreign ministers from Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the UK issued a joint statement warning that the plan will “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians.” They added, “Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also condemned the plan, calling it “a new phase of Israel’s expansionist and genocidal policy.” Speaking at a news conference in El Alamein, Fidan urged Muslim nations to unite in opposition, stating, “Palestine belongs to the Palestinians. Any effort aimed at expelling Palestinians from their own lands is null and void and is doomed to fail.”
Amid these developments, the United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting for August 10, 2025, to address the escalating crisis and Israel’s plans for Gaza City. On the ground, however, the sentiment among Gaza’s residents is one of grim determination. As Umm Imran told Al Jazeera, “They say go south, go to al-Mawasi, but there is nowhere safe any more—north, south, east or west. No one and nowhere is safe. We will stay here.”
As the world watches, Gaza’s civilians remain caught between hunger, violence, and the dangers of aid meant to save them, their voices calling out for a safer, more humane solution that has yet to arrive.
