Can Israel’s ‘tactical pause’ and airdrops help tackle the hunger crisis in Gaza?

“We are expected to save lives while our own are slowly being consumed. This is not just about hunger, but about the slow destruction of life, ability, and humanity.”

This remark rightly sums up the situation in Gaza where everyone and anyone is starving. In fact, the World Health Organisation (Who) has warned that malnutrition has reached “alarming levels” in Gaza with rates on a “dangerous trajectory”, while UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) has noted that one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished and cases are increasing every day.

Amid this situation, on Sunday morning (July 27), Israel announced it would begin a daily “humanitarian pause” in three densely populated areas of Gaza as well as announced the resumption of airdropped aid.

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Following the announcement, Jordanian and Emirati planes began dropping food into Gaza. But the question is — is it enough? Will it help alleviate the hunger crisis unfolding in the besieged enclave?

How bad is the situation in Gaza?

Even before the war began following the attacks on October 7, 2024, the situation in Gaza was not too good — the enclave has often been referred to as Israel’s open-air prison. But ever since the war broke out, a humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in the enclave.

As a result of the war, thousands of Gazans have been displaced; forced to live in the streets or makeshift tents. As Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, access to water and power has become more difficult.

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Moreover, the delivery of food aid has been interrupted as a result of the war and restrictions laid down by the Israeli military. In fact, before the conflict, some 3,000 aid and commercial trucks would enter Gaza every week. This number has drastically plummeted since then.

As a result, starvation, extreme hunger and malnourishment have taken root in Gaza. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 90,000 women and children are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition, while one in three people are going without food for days. More than 100 aid and human rights groups warned last week that “mass starvation” was spreading.

On July 23, the Palestinian health ministry announced that the death toll due to hunger in the past five days had risen to 43, whereas, the Who announced that more than 50 children have died of malnutrition since March.

Doctors and nurses are struggling with the food crisis in Gaza. Doctors describe their battle to keep up with the number of patients coming in, seeking treatment. As Dr Ahmad al-Farra, the director of paediatrics at Nasser medical complex, told _The Guardia_n, “Our malnutrition ward in the hospital is extremely overcrowded. Due to the large number of cases, some children are forced to sleep on the floor.”

Dr Nick Maynard, a British surgeon who is volunteering at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza recounts the scenes unfolding at the facility. “The expression ‘skin and bones’ doesn’t do it justice. I saw the severity of malnutrition that I would not have thought possible in a civilized world. This is man-made starvation being used as a weapon of war and it will lead to many more deaths unless food and aid is let in immediately,” he told the New York Times.

Doctors also note that the lack of food has resulted in many to die of other conditions, as they were too weak to fend it off. Starvation is causing more mothers to suffer miscarriages or give birth prematurely, to malnourished babies with weakened immune systems and medical abnormalities.

“The result is a rise in infections, dehydration and even immune collapse in infants,” said Dr Hani al-Faleet, a paediatric consultant at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. “The immediate cause of death in some of these cases is simple: The baby doesn’t get enough to eat, and neither does the mother.”

The situation is so dire that even journalists reporting from the ground are now struggling to stay alive. Some have even had to cut back on their coverage of the war, now in its 22nd month, with one journalist saying “we have no energy left due to hunger”.

The hunger crisis has affected virtually everyone in the Gaza Strip, with the UN describing their staff as “walking corpses”.

So, what has Israel announced now?

Facing intense international criticism, Israel, on Sunday, announced a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day as part of a series of steps that it says would give the United Nations and other aid agencies secure land routes to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

The Israel Defense Forces said it would begin a tactical pause in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas of the territory with large populations, to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid” entering the Gaza Strip. It said the pause would begin every day at 10 am local time, effective Sunday, and continue until further notice.

And following the announcement, airdrops began in the region with Israel, Jordan, and the UAE airdropping 28 aid packages. The Jordanian military said its planes, working with the United Arab Emirates, had delivered 25 tonnes of aid in three parachute drops over Gaza on Sunday. Moreover, truckloads of flour were also seen arriving in northern Gaza through the Zikim area crossing from Israel, according to AFP journalists.

Will this improve the situation in Gaza?

The answer, according to aid agencies, is that it won’t be enough. NGOs note that these steps may help ease access but as mass starvation is already underway, much more is needed. Groups have called for a full ceasefire in order to get civilians the help they need.

UNICEF spokesman Joe English told CNN: “We do airdrops in places around the world but it works where there are remote communities in big, wide open spaces. That’s not the case in the Gaza Strip.”

Other aid agencies also noted that Israel’s move to allow for aid drops is merely a “grotesque distraction” from the horror that is unfolding on the ground level. Ciarán Donnelly, of the International Rescue Committee, said aid drops could “never deliver the volume or the quality” of aid needed.

The head of the UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, also noted that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians” if they go awry. “Driving aid through is much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper & safer. It’s more dignified for the people of Gaza.”

Moreover, it is unclear about how long it will maintain the pause, allowing for the airdrops. Humanitarians have said consistency is key to their work.

Oxfam’s regional policy chief Bushra Khalidi, welcomed Israel’s move but noted that it wasn’t sufficient. Echoing other humanitarian officials who are sceptical about the airdrops being able to tackle the hunger crisis, she told AFP, “Starvation won’t be solved by a few trucks or airdrops. What’s needed is a real humanitarian response: ceasefire, full access, all crossings open and a steady, large-scale flow of aid into Gaza. We need a permanent ceasefire, a complete lifting of the siege.”

What’s been the reaction on the ground so far?

It’s only been one day since Israel announced the pause and allowing for airdrops, which means that it will take some more time before one can see any noticeable difference. However, The Guardian noted that the price of flour had dipped 20 per cent overnight.

Doctors have also warned that resolving this crisis is far from easy. People who are suffering from acute malnutrition need specialised treatment, as they can develop refeeding syndrome if they resume eating normally after a prolonged period of hunger. “All of these folks who have been deprived for so long, we worry about the complications that they may have developed,” Dr Thaer Ahmad, a doctor who has worked on medical missions in Gaza, told The Guardian.

With inputs from agencies