An Israeli military airdrop of seven small aid boxes over northern Gaza has drawn widespread condemnation, seen by many as a hollow propaganda stunt amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. With over two million Palestinians trapped under blockade and famine tightening its grip, the gesture has been dismissed as an attempt to deflect mounting global outrage over Israel’s starvation policies.

International anger surged following a senior Israeli minister’s call to “erase Gaza with bombing and starvation,” remarks that even Israeli media admitted severely damaged its global image. Critics argue that such token aid is designed to manage perceptions rather than address the reality, while thousands of aid trucks remain blocked at closed crossings, where supplies sufficient to halt mass hunger lie idle.

UNICEF has stressed that airdrops are no substitute for coordinated ground deliveries, stating that reopening crossings could allow lifesaving access to nearly all children in Gaza and treat malnutrition in weeks. Instead, hunger is being weaponised, with Gaza’s civil groups accusing Israel of “managing starvation, not ending it,” by restricting and politicising aid under bombardment.

With infant formula critically scarce and deaths among children rising sharply, aid agencies insist only sustained land access, 600 trucks a day for at least three months, can avert further catastrophe. Rights groups warn that obstructing aid while civilians perish amounts to grave breaches of humanitarian law. As Gaza’s crisis spirals, the world faces a decisive test: end the siege or risk complicity in one of the starkest man-made famines of modern times.