The United States military, along with Jordanian forces, conducted an aerial operation to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza this Saturday. US Air Force cargo planes worked jointly with the Royal Jordanian Air Force to air-drop over 38,000 pre-packaged meals across the impoverished Gaza Strip.
The ambitious aid mission was planned by US Central Command to try to reach Gazans most impacted by current shortages of food, water and medicine. Ongoing blockades and restrictions have caused supplies of basic necessities to sharply plummet across the coastal Palestinian territory. Saturday’s air drop aimed to provide urgently needed calories to civilians enduring increasingly dire circumstances.
Biden Pushes For More Aid Into Gaza
President Joe Biden declared the initial US-Jordanian aid flight successful but emphasized much more assistance is required to relieve suffering in Gaza. Biden stated online that current aid flows remain “not nearly enough”, pledging his administration will continue pursuing all options to transport more provisions to the area.
The president had met with Italy’s leader the day prior, stressing to reporters his insistence that Israel facilitate additional humanitarian trucks and access routes into Gaza. Biden made clear that innocent lives hang in the balance absent a massive influx of food and medical aid.
Aid Groups Question Effectiveness of Airdrops
Some major aid organizations criticized air-dropping supplies as an ineffective means to address Gaza’s humanitarian emergency. Groups argue that beyond positive optics, aerial deliveries rarely provide consequential volumes of provisions. The UN continues warning that pending the restart of ground-based importation, hundreds of thousands in Gaza risk starvation.
Aid workers contend establishing more land corridors and truck shipments comprise the only feasible way to achieve scale in sending life-preserving assistance. Groups say airdropped pallets, while symbolically meaningful, will not prevent a deepening catastrophe among Gaza’s population.
