Dropping aid into Gaza from the sky is 100 times more expensive than delivering it in trucks via land routes, the head of UNRWA, the main United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said Friday.
Airdrops are at least 100 times more costly than trucks. Trucks carry twice as much aid as planes, Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.
Airdrops have been conducted by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and others since Israel allowed them again last week. The UN warned earlier that airdrops are dangerous as well as costly, while Palestinians in Gaza have told CNN they resent having no choice but to chase after airdropped aid like dogs.
If there is political will to allow airdrops which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings, the UNRWA commissioner-general said.
Lazzarini said his agency has 6,000 trucks loaded with aid waiting for the green light to enter Gaza. Israel insists on inspecting all trucks before they cross into the territory.
Lazzarini added that during the ceasefire that lasted from January to March, UNRWA was able to bring in 500 to 600 trucks a day.
No alternative to the UN coordinated response with UNRWA as the backbone had provided similar results, he said, in an apparent swipe at the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which sidelined the UN in its role in distributing aid.
