Bowen: Air dropping aid is an act of desperation that will not end hunger in Gaza

Israel has offered to allow air drops of aid into Gaza. It is a gesture towards allies who are making strong statements blaming Israel for starvation in Gaza.

The latest warnings on Friday, July 25th, from Britain, France, and Germany were stark.

"We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and urgently allow the UN and humanitarian NGOs to carry out their work in order to take action against starvation. Israel must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law."

Israel continues to insist that it places no restrictions on aid trucks entering Gaza, an assertion not accepted by close allies or the United Nations and other agencies operating in Gaza.

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In other wars I have seen aid being dropped, both from the aircraft themselves and close up on the ground as it lands.

It is a crude process, which will not on its own do much to end hunger in Gaza. Only a ceasefire and an unrestricted, long-term aid operation can do that.

In Iraqi Kurdistan after the 1991 Gulf War, the US, UK and others dropped aid from C-130 transport aircraft, mostly army rations, sleeping bags and surplus winter uniforms to tens of thousands living in the open on the sides of mountains. I flew with them and watched British and American airmen dropping aid from the rear cargo ramps of the planes thousands of feet above the people who needed it.

It was welcome enough. But a few days later when I managed to reach the camps in the mountains, I saw young men running into minefields to get aid that landed there. Some were killed and maimed in explosions. I saw families killed when heavy pallets dropped on their tents.

When Mostar was under siege during the war in Bosnia in 1993, I saw pallets of American military "meals ready to eat", dropped from high altitude, scattered all over the east side of the city that was constantly being shelled. Some aid pallets crashed through roofs that somehow had not been destroyed by artillery attacks.

Air dropping aid is an act of desperation. It can also look good on television, and spread a feel-good factor that something, at last, is being done.

Professionals involved in relief operations regard air dropping aid as a last resort. They use it when any other access is impossible. That's not the case in Gaza. A short drive north is Ashdod, Israel's modern container port. A few more hours away is the Jordanian border, which has been used regularly as a supply line for aid to Gaza.

Dropping aid delivers very little. Even big transport planes do not carry as much as a convoy of lorries.

Pallets dropped by parachute Often land far from the people who need it. Israel has forced hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinian civilians into a tiny area on the southern coast of Gaza. Most of them live in densely packed tents. It is not clear if there is even an open space for dispatchers high in the sky to aim at.

Each pallet will now be fought over by desperate men trying to get food for their families, and by criminal elements who will want to sell it for profit.

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US-backed Gaza aid group launches bold new system to deliver food directly to families

EXCLUSIVE – Amid charges that its distribution model forces civilians to travel long distances and pass through military zones, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced a new initiative on Wednesday to add another layer of security to deliver food aid directly to Gazans in need , without diversion or interference from Hamas.

The new system enables community leaders to contact GHF or one of its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to coordinate local distribution. A GHF team will vet the leader, determine their needs, and set up the initial distribution of food aid. Boxes will be collected by locals at a predetermined location, and GHF will verify that boxes are distributed to aid recipients listed by the community leader.

GHF interim Executive Director John Acree told Fox News Digital, "We simply can't keep doing things the way they've always been done. Big challenges require new thinking, and I commend our team for continuing to think outside the box as we address pressing humanitarian needs on the ground."

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Using this method, GHF partnered with the Gaza NGO Al-Amal to successfully deliver around 2,000 boxes of food aid to residents in central Gaza.

Although GHF has delivered 67 million meals since beginning operations in May, it has faced criticism over its distribution model, which required Gazans to reach one of four distribution points to receive aid.

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Critics, including the U.N., UNRWA and other aid groups, have seized on reports that aid recipients have been shot at and even killed by the Israel Defense Forces while seeking GHF aid. The IDF said those reports "are false."

Testimonies from Gaza residents, released by Israel's Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), show that "Hamas fires at Gaza residents near the aid distribution sites, spreads false claims about IDF fire, publishes fabricated data about large numbers of casualties, and circulates fake footage," COGAT said.

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Leaders of GHF have also charged Hamas with hoarding humanitarian aid, and selling or using the aid "for coercive purposes."

Acree acknowledged that "The Gaza Strip is a dynamic, dangerous environment that requires innovative solutions to get food to those who need it most. This is the latest example of GHF doing exactly that. I am encouraged by the results of this program and proud to work alongside our local NGO partner as we continue to feed the people of Gaza."

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GHF hopes to partner with additional NGOs to expand its delivery service. Its ultimate goal is to distribute over 20,000 boxes of aid - 1.2 million meals - each day throughout Gaza.

Despite negative feedback about the GHF model from UNRWA and NGOs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He spoke of the important role the new aid system plays in feeding Gazans.

In an exclusive interview with FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria," on Wednesday, Netanyahu was asked whether he would agree to demands that the U.N. be placed back in charge of humanitarian aid distributions in Gaza.

We have our own distribution system that has been established to prevent Hamas from stealing the food that is supposed to go to the population," Netanyahu replied. "They steal it, they take it for themselves and the remainder, they hike the prices and basically, extort the Palestinian population in order to use it to continue recruiting people to their war machine.

"Obviously, we don't want to give up the thing that we began with, which is distribution that goes directly to the people."

The U.S. State Department has already approved funding of $30 million for GHF.

Original article source: US-backed Gaza aid group launches bold new system to deliver food directly to families

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Brothers of Israeli hostages call for US action at faith conference: 'He's not just a poster'

Ahead of their speeches at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference, two brothers of Israeli hostages urged United States leaders on Friday to turn recent military gains in Iran into diplomatic action to bring their loved ones home.

Iair Horn, who survived 498 days in <Hamas> captivity, is now fighting to free his brother Eitan, who remains in Gaza. Simultaneously, Ilay David has spent every day since Oct. 7, 2023, campaigning to bring home his younger brother Evyatar, kidnapped from the Nova music festival.

Horn, 46, an Israeli immigrant from Argentina, was taken alongside Eitan during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and was released in February as part of a ceasefire deal. However, his brother is still held hostage.

“I try to keep on living, but it's impossible.” "I feel guilty about everything I do. When I eat something, when I drink a coffee, I feel guilty because I know that my brother and another 49 hostages still remain in Gaza," Horn told the Washington Examiner.

Despite the trauma of nearly 500 days underground, Horn said “humor, family, and faith” kept him going. “Because if you lost your faith, you have nothing,” he said. “If I lost my humor, I have nothing.”

Horn, who was held with his brother Eitan for most of their time in Hamas captivity, said he still senses a connection.

“We’re hoping he’s still alive. And we feel, I feel, he’s still alive. You know, the special bond between brothers.”

He also observed a shift in conditions for some hostages after the U.S. election, saying, “Some of them get a little more food… the treatment was different… because when President [Donald] Trump got elected, everybody knew that something could happen, could change.”

For the families still waiting, the trauma continues. Ilay David has endured the kind of nightmare most people can’t imagine. His younger brother, Evyatar, a musician with plans to travel through Asia and study music production, was abducted from the Nova music festival by Hamas and remains in captivity in Gaza. Evyatar, now 24, has spent two birthdays in captivity.

"He’s my younger brother, and I really miss him every time I think about him. I really hope he returns and we play music together again," David said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.

David continued, "My brother is not just a poster. It's not just a name. He suffered for more than 600 days in Hamas captivity. And he has dreams and a family that waits for him, friends, community, and like him, all 50 hostages are the same."

In February, the David family received their first glimpse of Evyatar in a Hamas propaganda video. Holding up a photo frozen from the footage, Ilay described how his brother and best friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, appeared gaunt and exhausted as they were paraded by Hamas, forced to watch other hostages walk free before pleading for their own lives on camera.

They sent them back into the tunnels, as far as you know, to the same place. And that's only a part of how they treat them. It's only a small thing, a small torture that they do there every day," David explained. "It's hell on earth, and they survive, and they are decaying. They run out of time, and we must do everything it takes to bring them back.

Horn and David will address the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference this weekend, speaking directly to an evangelical audience deeply supportive of Israel and aligned mainly with President Donald Trump’s approach to the Middle East. Their appearances come as Trump allies tout recent U.S.-Israeli military actions in Iran and call for those gains to translate into a broader ceasefire deal that brings the remaining hostages home.

I know that the people who come here are great believers, and right now, the only thing that really keeps us going is faith," David said. "We need people to pray with us, but also to take action.

David said the moment is ripe for action, urging leaders to seize the momentum: “After Israel and the states got their victories in Iran, now it's time to draw a path to bring back the hostages, to secure a tremendous deal, President Trump's deal to bring back all the hostages. That's why we're here.”

Trump said on Friday that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas may be imminent, telling reporters he believes a deal could come together "within the next week."

While the Trump administration has been pushing for a temporary pause in the conflict for several weeks, negotiations have yet to yield an agreement. Neither Israel nor Hamas has publicly signaled whether a breakthrough is near.

The war in Gaza has sharpened divisions within the Democratic Party, turning Israel into a polarizing subject amid a surge in antisemitism across the United States. David fears the push to bring the hostages home can sometimes get lost in the political noise, a concern shared by Horn. Both men stress that their mission is not about politics, but humanity.

It gets lost in the noise of the news cycle, because so many things happen all the time," David said. "But those people [have spent] more than 20 months dealing with the same trauma, us and them and the people of Israel on the same trauma for more than 20 months, so we have to keep pushing.

“I think it's not connected to any political issue at all,” he added. “It's only human lives that we're talking about right now, and they should be released immediately, unconditionally.”

Horn agreed: "It's very simple. I'm not a political man, I’m not a diplomat. I'm just a simple man fighting to bring back his brother and all the hostages."

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At the conference's main session on Friday afternoon, an attendee noticed Horn and paused to offer words of support and a prayer for his brother’s release. The quiet moment reflected the emotional weight Horn carries as he navigates life after captivity while his brother remains in Gaza.

Right now my family is destroyed, but maybe, maybe if he comes back, we [will] have a little bit of joy in our lives back," he said. "I just want to ask the people, keep on praying, keep on supporting … I am just one man. I need to amplify my voice.

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