U.S. President Joe Biden announced the upcoming airdrop on Friday.
Washington:
U.S. cargo planes airdropped 38,000 meals into the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday, part of a series of airdrops planned by Washington to help stem a growing humanitarian crisis in the war-torn region.
The United Nations has warned of famine in Gaza, and earlier this week more than 100 people were killed as convoys of aid trucks scrambled to grab food, and Israeli troops opened fire on crowds.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who has come under increasing political pressure over the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, announced the imminent airdrop on Friday.
“On March 2, 2024, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm (Gaza time), U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force jointly airdropped humanitarian assistance to Gaza to provide necessary relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict, “The U.S. military command said on social media.
Central Command said U.S. C-130 military transport aircraft “dropped more than 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline, allowing civilians to receive critical assistance.”
The command added that the airdrop was “part of an ongoing effort to provide additional assistance to Gaza, including expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes.”
A Central Command official told AFP that the airborne military rations did not contain pork, which is prohibited by Islam.
– Surface routes remain key –
On October 7, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,160 people. Hamas has also taken approximately 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza.
Israel’s relentless attacks on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have taken a devastating toll on civilians trapped there, killing more than 30,000 people, according to the region’s health ministry.
The amount of aid trucked into Gaza has dropped significantly during the nearly five-month war, with Gazans facing severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
The United Nations accuses Israeli forces of “systematically” blocking access to Gaza, which Israel denies.
Some foreign troops have airdropped supplies into Gaza, using parachutes to float rows of aid pallets down into the war-torn area.
Jordan has carried out many of the operations with support from countries including Britain, France and the Netherlands, while Egypt on Thursday sent several military aircraft to carry out airdrops along with the United Arab Emirates.
Biden has urged Israel to reduce civilian casualties and allow aid in, while he has maintained military aid to key U.S. allies.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the United States plans multiple airdrops over several weeks that would “supplement rather than replace ground transportation.”
He described it as a “difficult military operation” that required careful planning by the Pentagon for the safety of Gaza civilians and U.S. military personnel.
“It’s extremely difficult to conduct airdrops in a crowded environment like Gaza,” Kirby said. “This is a war zone. So the pilots on the aircraft face additional potential dangers,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
