US President Joe Biden on Friday blazoned plans to launch the first military airdrop of food and inventories into Gaza, a day after the deaths of Palestinians staying in line for aid drew attention to the humanitarian disaster unfolding in the crowded coastal enclave.
Biden said the landings from the US would take place in the coming days, but did not provide any details. Other countries, including Jordan and France, have already flown aid into Gaza, Reuters reported.
” We need to do more, and the United States will do more,” Biden told journalists, adding that” the aid coming to Gaza is nowhere near enough.”
At the White House, spokesman John Kirby emphasized that the landings will be “an ongoing operation.” He added that the military’s MREs, or “meals ready to eat,” would likely be the first to be dropped.
“It’s not going to end,” Kirby said.
Biden told reporters that the U.S. is also considering a maritime corridor to deliver large amounts of aid to Gaza.
According to officials, landings can begin this weekend.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the enclave’s population – are on the brink of starvation.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces killed more than 100 people trying to reach an aid convoy near Gaza City early Thursday. Palestinians are facing an increasingly desperate situation nearly five months into a war that began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Israel criticized utmost of the deaths on crowds that crowded around aid exchanges, saying victims were tromped or moved. An Israeli functionary also said colors latterly opened fire” in a limited response” on a crowd they believed posed trouble.
With people eating beast feed and indeed cacti to survive and croakers saying children are dying in hospitals from malnutrition and dehumidification, the UN said it was facing” invincible obstacles” to getting aid.
Although it is unclear what type of aircraft will be used, the C-17 and C-130 are best suited for the job.
David Deptula, a retired three-star U.S. Air Force general who once commanded a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, said airborne assault is something the U.S. military can do effectively.
“It’s something that’s right in their mission,” Deptula told Reuters.
“There are many detailed challenges. But nothing is impossible.”
The United States and others also expect aid to increase thanks to a temporary ceasefire, which Biden said on Friday he hoped would be in place before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10.
