"Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X, calling the wave of hunger affecting Gaza "manmade".

This sobering comment comes amidst increasingly severe malnutrition for children and adults throughout the Gaza Strip. “When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food and care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,” Mr. Lazzarini said in a tweet.