Packages with food and medicine hang from the black parachutes. US military transport planes have dropped aid supplies over the Gaza Strip for the first time. According to the UN, just a drop in the ocean.
The US has begun air-delivering aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. The responsible regional command of the US military, Centcom, announced that US military C-130 transport aircraft had dropped a total of around 38,000 meals over the crisis area. It was a joint operation with the Jordanian Air Force. Plans are currently underway for further operations of this type.
In view of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said on Friday that the US wanted to supply the people in the densely populated coastal area with aid from the air and would also consider deliveries by sea.
“Get as close as possible to those in need”
There are few military operations more complicated than airdrops of humanitarian aid, emphasized National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby. It would be “extremely difficult” to carry out a drop in an area as densely populated as the Gaza Strip. Many people are crammed into a small space. They want to get as close as possible to those in need, but not in such a way that they end up in danger.
Jordan has been dropping aid supplies over the Gaza Strip since November and Egypt has been doing so for a few days. The flights are coordinated with Israel. The Israeli military has announced the temporary cessation of military activities in certain areas of the Gaza Strip in the interest of facilitating aid deliveries. This would apply from Saturday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (local time) in different districts of the cities of Rafah and Deir al-Balah each day, a military spokesman said on X on Saturday.
Dead in the rush Aid deliveries
Hundreds of Palestinians rushed to around 30 trucks carrying aid supplies to the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. According to Palestinian accounts, Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowd in the chaos. Israel, however, said the soldiers fired warning shots in the direction of the crowd. Many of the victims were trampled to death.
According to both the EU and the UN, many were hit by shots. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged Friday that air deliveries could not replace convoys on the ground. These can transport significantly larger loads and generally distribute them more effectively.
UN: The effect evaporates quickly
The food or medicine dropped brings some relief from the need, especially in areas that are difficult or impossible to reach by land with aid deliveries, such as the northern Gaza Strip. However, UN organizations point out that the quantities that can be delivered through airdrops are rather small. Given the large number of people suffering in the Gaza Strip, the effect is quickly dissipated, they say.
It would be easier, say UN officials, if Israel would simply allow aid deliveries by truck through border crossings in the north of the Gaza Strip. The US government has been warning about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza for weeks and is insisting on a ceasefire.
Negotiations for a ceasefire are making progress
Together with Egypt and Qatar, Washington is mediating between the Islamist Hamas and Israel in order to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war. According to the USA, the framework for such a deal is in place. The Israelis “more or less accepted” this, said high-ranking US government officials in Washington. “The Israelis have fundamentally agreed to the elements of the agreement. Now the ball is in Hamas’s court.” The US representatives emphasized that the talks were still ongoing.