The US carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Saturday. Over 38,000 meals were parachuted in by three military planes. The operation was carried out jointly with Jordan’s air force.
The airdrop comes at a time when the US has announced that a framework for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza is already in place.
The US government has said that Israel had “more or less accepted” a deal on a new ceasefire. US President Joe Biden said that the deal is near, but it has not been sealed.
The US Central Command in a statement said that on Saturday C-130 transport planes dropped over 38,000 meals along the coastline of the territory.
Plans for the US airdrop were announced by Biden on Friday, a day after the deaths of 100 Palestinians queuing up for aid.
Countries like the UK, France, Egypt and Jordan have previously airdropped aid into Gaza.
International pressure for a ceasefire has grown over the days, with the United Nations warning that a quarter of the population of 2.3 million people are a step away from famine. At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip are in urgent need of food and essential items, the UN said.
Since Israel’s war began on October 7, Tel Aviv has barred the entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies, except for very little aid entering the southern part of the country from Egypt at the Rafah crossing.
Aid agencies and humanitarian workers have over the years said that airdrops are an inefficient way of delivering aid. Scott Paul, who leads Oxfam’s US government advocacy work, said in a statement on X.
“Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza.”
Palestinian health officials estimate that over 30,000 people have died in Israel‘s offensive against Hamas.
