Death boxes in Gaza
From the very first moment some residents described the airdropped aid in Gaza as a “theatrical performance,” Gazans pinned their hopes on these parcels falling from the sky.
They hoped the drops might ease the hunger consuming them amid a deepening famine and the absence of any real relief corridor.
They would wait for the sound of approaching aircraft, lift their eyes to the sky, and anticipate the moment the boxes landed, hoping they carried something to keep them alive.
But hopes were quickly shattered by a harsh and bitter reality.
During the airdrops, residents were shocked to find that many of the aid boxes landed in “red zones” controlled by the Israeli army, where approaching them became a deadly risk.
Other boxes fell directly onto children and young people, resulting in fatalities and horrific injuries.
According to statistics from the Government Media Office in Gaza, the airdrops have resulted in 23 deaths and 124 injuries since 7 October 2023.
When the boxes land, people of all ages – men, women, and children – gather in a desperate attempt to retrieve something from them.
The scene resembles a harsh race against time, where the hungry run toward what might be their only meal for days, with no certainty of whether they will reach it or whether their lives will end before their hands ever touch it.
‘Hope, hunger and helplessness’
Mona Fayez, 45, a mother of four, describes the scene: “My children wake up every morning and ask me when the planes will arrive. They know full well they will likely get nothing, but it’s hope, hunger and helplessness.”
She adds, “Every day they stand in front of the tent from early morning, waiting for the sound of the plane carrying the boxes. I try to stop them from going out after hearing about children being killed, but here in the tents, there is no door I can close to keep them safe.”
Her teenage son, Mohammed, sums up the family’s struggle in simple words: “I wish I could get just one kilo of flour or a kilo of dates to bring to my mother and siblings, so we could feel a little bit of joy.”
Mona and Mohammed’s story is a small reflection of what most people in Gaza are going through. Although there have been announcements about the entry of some commercial trucks carrying food supplies, the reality is that these goods are for sale, not for free distribution.
This means people are expected to pay. But today, the majority of Gaza’s population has lost their jobs and sources of income and has plunged into extreme poverty. They no longer have anything to buy with.
As a result, their only remaining hope lies in the airdropped aid, despite the deadly risks it carries.
‘A new method to kill us?’
Fathi Jaber, a 65-year-old displaced man sheltering in western Gaza, expresses his helplessness with sorrow: “I am an old man, suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes, and I cannot run after the boxes falling from the sky. I only wish for the fair and consistent access to aidreturn of land aid across the entire strip, so we can get enough to survive before we die of hunger.”
These individual stories reveal the darker side of aerial aid drops, which are supposed to save lives but have instead become scenes of humiliation and a real threat to people’s safety.
Instead of delivering aid in an organised and secure manner, it is dropped from the sky, turning into a deadly race between hunger and danger, between life and death.
The Gaza Strip, where people have been living under the fire of an Israeli war of extermination since October 2023, is currently facing the worst humanitarian disaster in its modern history.
With ongoing bombings and the displacement of hundreds of thousands, residents find no way to survive except by clinging to any glimmer of hope, even if it comes in the form of boxes falling from the sky.
Hope here is tinged with fear, and survival depends on luck. While the world continues sending aid in this manner, Gazans keep asking the same question: Is this an attempt to save us from hunger, or a new method to humiliate and kill us?