“Extremely difficult” operation
USA launches airlift for Gaza Strip
March 2, 2024, 5:10 p.m
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More than 30,000 people have died since Israel’s offensive began in the Gaza Strip. In order to support the survivors in their time of need, the USA is now starting to supply them with relief supplies from the air. However, from the point of view of UN human rights activists, the impact of this aid is rather limited.
The US has begun air-delivering aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. The responsible regional command of the US military, Centcom, announced that US military C-130 transport aircraft had dropped a total of around 38,000 meals over the crisis area. It was a joint operation with the Jordanian Air Force. Plans are currently underway for further operations of this kind. US President Joe Biden announced aid deliveries from the air on Friday. In view of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the Democrat said that the USA wanted to supply the people in the densely populated coastal area with aid from the air and would also consider deliveries by sea.
National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby stressed Friday that there are few military operations more complicated than airdrops of humanitarian aid. It would be “extremely difficult” to carry out a drop in an area as densely populated as the Gaza Strip. Many people are crammed into a small space. They want to get as close as possible to those in need, but not in such a way that they end up in danger.
Jordan has been dropping aid supplies over the Gaza Strip since November and Egypt has been doing so for a few days. The flights are coordinated with Israel. The food or medicine dropped brings some relief from the need, especially in areas that are difficult or impossible to reach by land with aid deliveries, such as the northern Gaza Strip. However, UN organizations point out that the quantities that can be delivered through airdrops are rather small. Given the large number of people suffering in the Gaza Strip, the effect is quickly dissipated, they say.
In addition, all order has collapsed in the affected areas of Gaza as a result of the war. Young men often fight over the dropped packages in order to get something for their families. It would be easier, say UN officials, if Israel would simply allow truck deliveries of aid through border crossings in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Dozens dead in the distribution of relief supplies
The US government has been warning about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza for weeks and is insisting on a ceasefire. Together with Egypt and Qatar, Washington is mediating between the Islamist Hamas and Israel in order to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war. The goals are to release the hostages in the hands of Hamas and to improve the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.
Representatives of the United Nations recently warned in the Security Council of the starvation of thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing ahead with a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and restricting humanitarian aid despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations. On Thursday, when an aid convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip, many desperate people tried to get relief supplies. The onslaught resulted in riots and shooting by Israeli soldiers. The Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip said more than a hundred people were killed and more than 700 injured. The incidents are still largely unexplained.
While the Palestinian side said that Israeli soldiers had deliberately fired into the crowd, the Israeli military blamed the chaos and crowds for the deaths. Shots were fired, but only a few people were injured. Numerous countries, including the USA and Germany, then demanded clarification from Israel. The tragedy occurred on the day the 30,000 death mark was passed since the start of the Israeli military offensive.