Aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip crept forward this week as a 21-truck convoy carrying about 540 tons of supplies from the United Arab Emirates crossed from Egypt on 11 August, followed by another 20 UAE trucks that began moving through the Rafah crossing toward Israel’s Kerem Shalom gate on 12 August. The Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, said the shipments amount to “a drop in the ocean,” insisting the enclave needs more than 600 truckloads of food, medicine and fuel each day to meet minimum humanitarian standards. The group also criticised airdrops carried out by foreign militaries, arguing they are largely symbolic and can endanger civilians scrambling for parachuted packages. Against that backdrop, U.S. officials told Reuters the Trump administration has not seriously considered joining the airdrop effort, calling the option unrealistic because it would fall far short of the requirements of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents. Close U.S. allies—including Jordan, the UAE and Britain—have conducted their own drops, while the Biden administration previously oversaw about 1,220 tons of U.S. assistance delivered by air. Local aid workers and international agencies warn that hunger is spreading, with reports of university students abandoning their studies to search for food as Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign and tight border controls continue to throttle the flow of goods into the territory.