Airdrops of aid to Gaza ‘inefficient’ and a ‘distraction’, UN says
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has strongly criticised the use of airdrops to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling them “inefficient” and a “distraction” from addressing the root causes of the crisis.
“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke”.
A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.
Driving aid through is much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper and safer. It’s more dignified for the people of Gaza.
His comments come as the UK steps up involvement in international efforts to deliver aid by air.
On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was working with Jordan on plans to carry out airdrops, after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling for the government to recognise a Palestinian state.
A small team of British military planners and logisticians is also being deployed to assist Jordan with the logistics of delivering aid, the BBC reported.
Key events
Palestinian health officials: Israeli forces kill at least 25 Palestinians as many waited for aid
Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 25 Palestinians overnight on Saturday, Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service reported.
Tha majority of people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, the Associated Press reports, citing staff at Shifa hospital were vicitms were transported to.
Those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service added.
Here is a summary of today’s events:
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Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will be “taking forward” plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children who need medical assistance in an effort to relieve what Downing Street called an appalling situation. Speaking to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Saturday morning, the prime minister outlined the UK’s intentions to work with Jordan to carry out the plans.
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A toddler and a 60-year-old woman were among those killed in an armed attack by the Sunni Jaish al-Adl Baluch group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday.
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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has strongly criticised the use of airdrops to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling them “inefficient” and a “distraction” from addressing the root causes of the crisis.
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The death toll from Israeli military operations in Gaza has reached 59,733, according to the latest update from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
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At least 25 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunshots overnight, according to health officials and the ambulance service on Saturday, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Palestinians in Gaza face famine.
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Starmer rejected calls to immediately recognise a Palestinian state, after some 221 MPs signed a letter urging the British Government to recognise the state of Palestine at a meeting of the UN next week. While Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognising the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.
The head of Oxfam has said airdrops of aid are “wholly inadequate, dangerous and dehumanising” after prime minister Keir Starmer confirmed the government will be moving ahead with plans to airdrop supplies.
Dr Halima Begum, Oxfam GB Chief Executive said: “Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid for months now, and it is deeply distressing to know that hundreds of tonnes of food are sat awaiting delivery just a few miles from camps where tens of thousands of people, including babies and children, are in the grips of starvation.
“While the Prime Minister has finally acknowledged the devastating scale of Israel’s actions this week, rhetoric alone will make no difference to the appalling suffering in Gaza – and only compounds the intellectual and moral incoherence of continued UK arms sales to Israel.
“Air drops of humanitarian aid are wholly inadequate, dangerous and dehumanising – a gesture and a distraction that do nothing to ensure Israel is meeting its obligations to stave off starvation. The UK must press Israel to lift the siege and allow the free flow of aid into and throughout Gaza, with the immediate opening of Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings a first step.“
The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired “warning shots to distance the crowd” after identifying an “immediate threat” at an aid distribution point located near an Israeli military post in the Zikim area, northwest of Sudaniyah.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said another man was killed by a drone strike near Khan Yunis, while one was killed by artillery fire in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said it was continuing its operations in Gaza, adding that it killed members of a “terrorist cell” which it accused of planting an explosive device.
It said the air force had “struck over 100 terror targets” across Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will be “taking forward” plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children who need medical assistance in an effort to relieve what Downing Street called an appalling situation.
Speaking to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Saturday morning, the prime minister outlined the UK’s intentions to work with Jordan to carry out the plans.
The three leaders agreed to work closely together on a plan to “pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region”.
Read our full report here:
The stench of decaying bodies hangs heavy in the streets of the provincial capital in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, where fighting recently erupted, AP reports. Once bustling roads now lie eerily silent, with only a few people passing by. In some areas, the destruction is overwhelming, with buildings and cars charred black.
At a bank branch, shattered glass covered the floor as an alarm blared nonstop. Walls are emblazoned with slogans graffitied by both sides in the recent conflict.
The devastation came after violent clashes broke out two weeks ago, sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria’s fragile postwar transition.
Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Some government fighters reportedly robbed and executed Druze civilians.
Associated Press journalists from outside the city were able to enter Sweida on Friday for the first time since the violence started on July 13. With a ceasefire largely holding, residents of Sweida are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives.
Toddler and 60-year-old woman among those killed in Iran terror attack
Jaish al-Adl Baluch confirmed the deaths of three of its members who were among the assailants in an armed attack by the Sunni group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday
The group’s members died in the clashes with security forces in Zahedan, the capital of the far southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sistan-Baluchestan is home to Irans Sunni Muslim Baluch minority, who have long complained of economic marginalisation and political exclusion.
A toddler and a 60-year-old woman were among those killed, as well as three soldiers and law enforcement personnel assigned to the courthouse, the head of the province’s judiciary told IRNA. He did not identify the sixth dead person. He said the attackers wore explosive vests and carried grenades. It was not clear if they had detonated them.
Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram account, said it had killed at least 30 members of the judiciary and security forces. It said it targeted judges and court personnel, whom it accused of issuing death sentences and house demolition orders to Baluch citizens.
“We warn all judges and employees of the judiciary that Baluchestan will no longer be a safe place for them and death will follow them like terrifying shadows until retribution,” the group said in its statement.
It blamed security forces for the deaths of civilians, saying they had fired indiscriminately.
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians” and won’t reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion.
In a post on X, Lazzarini said airdrops are a “distraction and screensmoke”.
He added: “A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements plus dignified access to people in need.”
#Gaza: airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians.
It is a distraction & screensmoke.A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.
Lift the siege, open the gates & guarantee safe movements…— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 26, 2025
Hamas find Trump remarks on Gaza talks breakdown ‘surprising’
Hamas officials expressed surprise on Saturday at US President Donald Trump’s accusation that the group “didn’t really want” a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
Trump made the allegation of Friday a day after Israel and the United States quit indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar that had lasted nearly three weeks.
“Trump’s remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
“So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations”, he added
The majority of the 25 killed overnight were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.
During the shootings Friday night, Sherif Abu Aisha said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from the aid trucks, but as they got close, they realized it was from Israel’s tanks. That’s when the army started firing on people, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle, a father of eight, was among those killed.
“We went because there is no food … and nothing was distributed,” he said.
An attack by the jihadist separatist group Jaish al-Adl on a courthouse in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan killed at least nine people, including a mother and child, and wounded 22, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Attackers stormed the building, shooting a number of people inside. They then launched a second attack with mortars and grenade launchers on the courthouse, where a clash that lasted three hours began with security forces, according to the Baluch human rights group Haalvsh.
Read our full report here:
Starmer, Macron and Merz to work ‘closely together on a plan’ for Gaza security
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have agreed to work “closely together on a plan” to “pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region” of Gaza, Downing Street said.
In a readout of the Prime Minister’s call with the French President and German Chancellor, a Number 10 spokesperson said: “The three leaders talked about the situation in Gaza, which they agreed is appalling, and emphasised the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and urgently provide those suffering in Gaza with the food they so desperately need.
“The Prime Minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance.
“They all agreed it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace.
“They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan, building on their collaboration to date, which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region.
“They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it.”
Syrian and Israeli officials held talks in Paris mediated by the United States about containing any escalation in southern Syria, Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Saturday, citing a diplomatic source.
The diplomatic source said the meeting did not result in any final agreements but they agreed to continue talks and evaluate steps aimed at maintaining stability in southern Syria.
A senior Hamas official has rejected recent US accusations that the group has stolen humanitarian aid in Gaza, calling them “politically motivated and baseless”.
In a statement issued on Saturday, cited by Anadolu news agency, Izzat al-Rishq dismissed the allegations and criticised the US narrative around aid diversion.
His comments come in the wake of an internal study by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which examined 156 cases of lost or stolen aid between October 2023 and May 2025. According to the findings, there was no evidence that Hamas had benefitted from aid provided by the US.
Rishq said the focus on alleged aid theft diverts attention from what he called “the real obstacle to any ceasefire or humanitarian agreement: the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”.
He also criticised recent comments from US officials, including Donald Trump and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, saying they “do not align with the assessments of the mediators and contradict the reality of the negotiation process”.
Airdrops of aid to Gaza ‘inefficient’ and a ‘distraction’, UN says
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has strongly criticised the use of airdrops to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling them “inefficient” and a “distraction” from addressing the root causes of the crisis.
“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke”.
A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.
Driving aid through is much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper and safer. It’s more dignified for the people of Gaza.
His comments come as the UK steps up involvement in international efforts to deliver aid by air.
On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was working with Jordan on plans to carry out airdrops, after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling for the government to recognise a Palestinian state.
A small team of British military planners and logisticians is also being deployed to assist Jordan with the logistics of delivering aid, the BBC reported.
Palestinian Health Ministry says 57 killed in past 24 hours
The death toll from Israeli military operations in Gaza has reached 59,733, according to the latest update from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
In the past 24 hours alone, 57 have been killed and 512 have been injured. Emergency crews say a number of victims remain trapped under collapsed buildings.
It also says that since 18 March 2025, when it began separately reporting figures after the temporary ceasefire came to an end, 8,581 people have been killed and 32,436 injured.
The ministry added that 29 people were killed and more than 165 injured in the past 24 hours while attempting to access aid.
This brings the total number of those killed while collecting aid to 1,121, with more than 7,485 injured, it said.
Some analysts say French president Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France would become the first Western member of the United Nations Security Council to recognise a Palestinian state is an attempt to use the carrot of recognition to extract concessions from Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority which is a moderate rival to Hamas, and other regional players.
“Macron here is acting as a catalyst to get the Palestinians to deliver on the needed reforms, to get the Arabs to deliver on a stabilization force and the disarming of Hamas,” said Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog run by the Carnegie Europe think tank.
Others say while recognition has symbolic value, there will still be no functioning Palestinian state whenever the war in Gaza comes to an end.
“Recognition by a European heavyweight like France is indicative of the rising frustration with Israel’s intransigent policies,” said Amjad Iraqi, senior analyst at International Crisis Group.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli operations killed 11 people on Saturday in the Palestinian territory devastated by over 21 months of war.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the toll included four Palestinians killed in an air strike on the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City in the territory’s north.
One other person was killed “after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid” northwest of Gaza City, the agency said.
Eyewitnesses told AFP that several thousand people had gathered in the area to wait for aid.
One of them, Abu Samir Hamoudeh, 42, said the Israeli military opened fire “while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point”, located near an Israeli military post in the Zikim area, northwest of Sudaniyah.