WASHINGTON, March 2 — United States (US) President Joe Biden has announced plans to carry out a first military airdrop of food and supplies into Gaza, a day after the deaths of Palestinians queuing for aid threw a spotlight on an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the crowded coastal enclave.
He said the US airdrop would occur in the coming days but offered no further specifics. Other countries, including Jordan and France, have already carried airdrops of aid into Gaza.
“We need to do more, and the United States will do more,” Biden told reporters yesterday, adding that “aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough.”
At the White House, spokesperson John Kirby stressed that airdrops would become “a sustained effort.” The first airdrop would likely be military MREs, or “meals ready-to-eat.”
“This isn’t going to be one and done,” he said.
Biden told reporters the US is also looking at the possibility of a maritime corridor to deliver large amounts of aid into Gaza.
The airdrops could begin as early as this weekend, officials said.
At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip — one-quarter of the enclave’s population — are one step away from famine, according to the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces had over 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy near Gaza City early on Thursday (February 29). Palestinians face an increasingly desperate situation nearly five months into the war that began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Israel blamed most of the deaths on crowds that swarmed around aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over. An Israeli official also said troops had “in a limited response” later fired on crowds they felt had posed a threat.
With people eating animal feed and even cactuses to survive, and with medics saying children are dying in hospitals from malnutrition and dehydration, the UN has said it faces “overwhelming obstacles” getting in aid.
While it is unclear which type of aircraft will be used, the C-17 and C-130 are best suited for the job.
David Deptula, a retired US Air Force three-star general who once commanded the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, said airdrops are something the US military can effectively execute.
“It is something that is right up their mission alley. There are a lot of detailed challenges. But there’s nothing insurmountable,” he told Reuters.
The US and others also expect aid would be boosted by a temporary ceasefire, which Biden said Friday he hoped would happen by the time of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10.
Israel ‘aware’ of airdrop
Still, there have been questions about the effectiveness of air-dropping aid into Gaza.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the airdrops would have only a limited impact on the suffering of those in Gaza.
“It does not deal with the root cause,” the official said, as ultimately, only opening up land borders could seriously deal with the issue.
Another issue is that the US could not ensure the aid did not end up in Hamas’ hands, given that the US did not have troops on the ground.
“Humanitarian workers always complain that airdrops are good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid,” said Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s UN Director.
He added the only way to get enough aid was through aid convoys, which would follow a truce.
“It is arguable that the situation in Gaza is now so bad that any additional supplies will at least alleviate some suffering. But this at best a temporary band aid measure,” Gowan said.
Under pressure at home and abroad, another US official said the Biden administration was looking at shipping aid by sea from Cyprus, some 210 nautical miles off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
At the White House, Kirby acknowledged that the airdrops into Gaza were “extremely difficult” because of the dense population and ongoing conflict.
The US for months has been calling for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, something Israel has resisted.
Kirby noted that Israel had tried to airdrop supplies into Gaza, and it was supportive of the US airdropping aid.
“We are aware of the humanitarian airdrop,” said an Israeli official in Washington.
The official, speaking anonymously, did not answer whether the US had sought Israeli agreement in advance on the air drops or was coordinating the effort with it.
Gaffes have marred Biden’s announcement of the fresh aid to Gaza as he twice confused it for Ukraine.
The UN delivered aid to besieged northern Gaza for the first time in over a week yesterday, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The UN delivered medicines, vaccines, and fuel to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
The World Food Programme said ten days ago that it was pausing food aid deliveries to northern Gaza until conditions in the Palestinian enclave allow for safe distribution.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said yesterday that in February, an average of nearly 97 trucks were able to enter Gaza each day, compared with about 150 trucks a day in January.
“The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target of 500 per day,” it said.
— Reuters
