The packages dropped “along the Gaza coast” contained more than 38,000 meals, the US Middle East Military Command said.
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The United States has begun airdrops of aid to Gaza by delivering more than 38,000 meals, the American military said on Saturday March 2, after nearly five months of war having caused a serious humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. . This announcement comes two days after an aid distribution turned into a tragedy in the Gaza Strip, bombed and besieged by the Israeli army, and threatened with famine according to the UN.
Three US military planes dropped food in an effort to“help civilians affected by the current conflict”, said an official from the US military Middle East Command (Centcom). The planes dropped “66 packages containing pork-free meals” Saturday afternoon local time in Gaza, he added.
Centcom then specified that these packages contained more than 38,000 meals, dropped “along the coast of Gaza”, and that the operation was carried out in cooperation with Jordan. He added that he was working on planning “potential subsequent aid delivery missions”.
“Other drops will be planned”
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Washington would join “in the coming days”, and for the first time, at the “Jordan and other countries airdropping food and other goods” on Gaza. The spokesperson for the National Security Council, John Kirby, then clarified that it would not be a unique operation. “Further drops will be planned and executed” by the Pentagon, he said, emphasizing their character “extremely difficult” due to the population density in Gaza.
“Innocent people are trapped in a terrible war, unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get help”, underlined Joe Biden, in reference to the tragedy that occurred on Thursday. The health ministry of Hamas, in power in Gaza, accuses the Israeli army of having killed 115 people by shooting at a hungry crowd rushing towards aid trucks. The Israeli army recognized “limited shots” and claimed that most of the victims died in a “hustle”.