UAE carries out Gaza aid air drop as death toll from starvation rises

The UAE continues to carry out air drops of essential aid into Gaza as the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency voiced concern that children suffering from malnutrition will die if emergency provisions are not immediately put in place.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that its data showed a six-fold increase in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza City since March. "We have a population that is extremely weak that will be confronted with a new major military operation," he told a Geneva press club meeting. "Many of them will not survive".

"It is a manufactured and fabricated famine. It is deliberate. Food has been used as an instrument of war," he said.

Two more people have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, Gaza health ministry said on Thursday. The new deaths raised the number of Palestinians who have died from such causes to 271, including 112 children, since the war began.

In May, a global hunger monitor said that half a million people in the Gaza Strip faced starvation but stopped short of using the term famine.

The UAE mission, was conducted in cooperation with Jordan and supported by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Singapore and Indonesia. Prepared with the backing of Emirati charitable organisations, the aid aims to ease the suffering of civilians facing dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

With the 77th air drop, total aid delivered by air since Birds of Goodness initiative was launched in 2024 has exceeded 4,028 tonnes. 

عملية طيور الخير تنفذ الإنزال الجوي الـ77 ضمن عملية الفارس الشهم 3

تواصل دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة دعمها الإنساني للشعب الفلسطيني في قطاع غزة، حيث نفذت اليوم عملية الإنزال الجوي رقم 77 ضمن عملية "طيور الخير"، التابعة لعملية "الفارس الشهم 3"، بالتعاون مع المملكة الأردنية… pic.twitter.com/hDfkSR2WQd

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) August 21, 2025