Gaza War: Amid Int’l Pressure, Israel Resumes Aid But Airdrop Criticised; Arab Nations to Condemn Hamas

Not one, two or a hundred, pictures of children crying for help, food in Gaza are all over the lakhs in thousands! Running since October 2023, the war in Gaza is among one of the worst in the recent years. The situation is so grim that even US President Donald Trump said “Israel will have to make a decision” on Gaza and added that the pictures of starving children in Gaza are “terrible”.

Amid widespread criticism, the Israeli military has announced a pause for few hours each day over concerns of surging hunger in Gaza territory. After a continuous 21-month fight, Israel has now started a limited daily pause in fighting across 3 heavily populated areas of Gaza, lasting 10 hours each day.

This move would help the United Nations and other aid organisations gain safe access by land to address the worsening hunger crisis in the affected regions.

What is the limited daily pause announced by Israel?

Called a “tactical pause”, the Israel Defense Forces announced this 10-hour pause in fighting for aid to reach Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Muwasi, the 3 densely populated regions. It will start at 10 am local time till 8 pm at night and will remain in place until further notice.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies.”

As part of this “tactical pause”, the military would also put in place secure routes for aid delivery.

Why Israel earlier limited aid to Gaza?

Now that several experts have raised serious issues on the risk of famine in Gaza, Israel has announced a limited stop to fight each day. However, the country had earlier restricted humanitarian aid to the population of more than 2 million in Gaza as it believes Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule. However, Israel never gave any evidence for that claim.

Hamas is a Palestinian militant group that that launched a surprise attack on Israel in 2023, leading to the ongoing war.

Along with providing secure routes for aid delivery in Gaza, Israel military added that it carried out aid airdrops into Gaza, which included packages of aid with flour, sugar and canned food. However, the move is being viewed with scorn.

Why is aid air drop in Gaza being condemned?

The UN has condemned airdrops on Gaza, warning they risk killing the starving Palestinians they are intended to help. Recently, the Jordanian military and the UAE conducted air drops of aid to help people in Gaza. On Monday, Jordan said that together with the UAE, they dropped aid supplies by air into several areas of Gaza.

This was the second day in a row that they carried out these airdrops. As per a report in Times of Israel, Spain has also joined Jordan and the UAE, airdropping 12 tons of food into Gaza from Jordan, using Spanish air force planes.

However, aid agencies have become wary of such a move. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), stated that they “will not reverse the deepening starvation” and often do more harm than good.

“They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians,” he wrote in a statement on X.

Hamas to be criticised by Arab nations?

The French government expects Arab nations to publicly criticise the Palestinian militant group – Hamas. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said this would happen at a scheduled United Nations meeting in New York on Monday (July 28) local time. Recently, France announced its plan to officially recognise Palestine as a state.

In an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Barrot said, “For the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, which will seal its definitive isolation. European countries will in turn confirm their intention to recognise the State of Palestine. Half of European countries have done so, all others are considering it.”