WFP Chief: Gaza famine cannot be addressed through air drops

Cindy McCain, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), delivers a speech in Milano Convention Centre on May 07, 2025 in Milan, Italy. [Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images]

Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said on Thursday that the worsening famine in Gaza cannot be resolved by air-dropping aid, stating: “We can’t airdrop our way out of an unfolding famine. Not in Gaza.”

She explained that around 500,000 people in Gaza are suffering from hunger, stressing that the only way to deliver food to them, at scale, is by land.

“we can’t afford to wait—Gaza is out of food and out of time,” McCain added.

Since 2 March, Israel has closed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, blocking the entry of food and medical aid. This has led to a sharp rise in the prices of basic goods, widespread shortages in the markets, and a famine that has claimed the lives of many residents.

READ: One-third of Gaza population has not eaten for several days amid Israeli siege: WFP

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