The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Cindy McCain, has issued a stark warning about the deepening hunger crisis in Gaza, saying that air-dropping aid will not be enough to avert catastrophe.
“We can’t airdrop our way out of an unfolding famine. Not in Gaza,” McCain wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. “500,000 people are starving TODAY. The only way to get food to them, at scale, is by land.”
She stressed that the WFP is grateful for international support but underscored the urgency of opening land routes. “We can’t afford to wait—Gaza is out of food and out of time,” she said.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has imposed severe restrictions on the entry of goods, including food, water, and fuel. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the blockade, combined with ongoing airstrikes and ground operations, has pushed the enclave’s 2.3 million residents to the brink of famine.
According to UN agencies, nearly half a million people in Gaza face catastrophic levels of food insecurity, with children suffering the most severe consequences. While international partners, including the United States and Jordan, have carried out multiple airdrop operations to deliver aid, humanitarian organizations stress that these efforts are insufficient. They argue that only sustained, large-scale deliveries through land crossings can address the urgent needs.
The call from McCain comes amid mounting pressure on Israel to ease restrictions and allow more humanitarian convoys into the territory, as fears grow that famine could claim thousands of lives in the coming weeks.
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