The Idiocy of Airdrops in Gaza

Biden announced the US will drop food from sky

Parcels parachute down in South Sudan. Photo: WFP/Peter Smerdon

I’ve spent much of my career as a journalist covering international responses to humanitarian crises. These are often crises far from the radar of Western media. Think: Central African Republic, Southern Madagascar, Cameroon, Myanmar, and on and on. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that a constellation of United Nations entities and international NGOs tasked with responding to disasters have gotten pretty good at efficiently providing humanitarian relief in an emergency. When disaster strikes, a robust system snaps into action. These are professionals who work in tough settings with limited resources.

Ask any professional humanitarian worker, and they will tell you that airdrops are a terrible way to deliver aid. For one, they are massively expensive. The sheer cost often limits the amount of aid that can be delivered. Even if costs were not a factor, in terms of volume, the amount of aid that can be airdropped is …