Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian American writer and activist who once lived in Gaza and is a vocal critic of Hamas, joined a United Arab Emirates humanitarian airdrop over the enclave this week, filming from the plane what he described as “heartbreaking” destruction after nearly two years of war.
For 10 minutes, Alkhatib recorded neighborhoods across the Gaza Strip, many reduced to rubble after 22 months of Israeli bombardments and ground operations. In other areas, intact buildings could still be seen.
American journalist and Hamas critic Ahmad Fouad al-Khatib, who lived in Gaza for years, documents a humanitarian aid airdrop over the enclave
(Video: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib)
“I flew again today over Gaza's airspace with the UAE's Air Force to carry out a food airdrop,” Alkhatib captioned the video on X. "The scene was a heartbreaking mix of devastation, an active warzone, life, dead areas & movements. It was immensely emotional to see my native homeland in this state. We shall overcome."
Alkhatib narrated as the plane passed over the north. “Beit Hanoun is utterly devastated, nothing left,” he said, adding he could see what appeared to be Israeli units and makeshift camps. “Gaza is fully destroyed.” Over Gaza City, he pointed out landmarks near where his family once lived — a water well, a cemetery — alongside smoke, ruined homes, burning trash and scattered vehicles.
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American journalist and Hamas critic Ahmad Fouad al-Khatib, who lived in Gaza for years, documents a humanitarian aid airdrop over the enclave
(Photo: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib)
“This is so heartbreaking. I last was in Gaza 20 years ago. My family lost their home here. I lost over 34 of my immediate and extended family members,” he said.
Flying further south, he described seeing fewer ruins but sprawling tent camps. “I see some life, I see a lot of tents here. I see some people moving. There's A little less devastation here in this part of the Gaza Strip. It is so heartbreaking to be over Gaza's airspace, which I last entered 25 years ago as part of the Yasser Arafat International Airport or the Gaza International Airport on the Palestinian Airlines."
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American journalist and Hamas critic Ahmad Fouad al-Khatib, who lived in Gaza for years, documents a humanitarian aid airdrop over the enclave
(Photo: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib)
The UAE crew later released pallets of food near the Nuseirat camp. “The parachutes deployed correctly over there,” Alkhatib said, noting that cargo planes from Indonesia, Jordan and Germany were also participating. He added that airspace had to be cleared of Israeli jets before the aid mission began.
The devastation in Gaza is staggering. According to UNOSAT, the United Nations’ satellite monitoring program, nearly 70% of all buildings in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged as of April 2025. A Le Monde report last month said Khan Younis in the south had also been “almost entirely erased.”
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UAE humanitarian supplies airdropped over Deir al-Balah, Gaza
(Photo: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Alkhatib, 34, describes himself as a “proud American, Gaza native, pro-Palestine, pro-Peace, anti-Hamas & milit-occupation.” He runs a blog and founded Project Unified Assistance, a nonprofit promoting a UN-operated humanitarian airport in Gaza.
Born in Saudi Arabia in 1990 to a family displaced from Ramle in 1948, Alkhatib grew up in Gaza, where his father worked for the United Nations. At 11, he lost hearing in his left ear in an Israeli airstrike. In 2005, he left Gaza for the United States through a U.S. State Department program.