United States army cargo planes have air-dropped meals into Gaza, within the first of sequence of support drops as humanitarian teams criticise Israel for blocking entry to the besieged and bombarded strip.
The US, along with Jordan’s air power, “conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza … to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict”, US Central Command mentioned in a press release on Saturday.
The C-130 planes “dropped over 38,000 meals along the coastline of Gaza allowing for civilian access to the critical aid”, it added, because the enclave faces a humanitarian disaster after nearly 5 months of struggle.
US President Joe Biden had introduced a day earlier that the US would airdrop support there after greater than 100 Palestinians have been killed on Thursday in northern Gaza whereas queuing for support.
US Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby mentioned on Friday that the US will perform a number of airdrops within the subsequent few weeks, which can be coordinated with Jordan.
Kirby mentioned the airdrops have a bonus over vehicles as a result of planes can transfer support to a specific space shortly. Nevertheless, by way of quantity, the airdrops can be “a supplement to, not a replacement for moving things in by ground”, he added.
The Biden administration can also be contemplating delivery support by sea from Cyprus, in response to a US official.
Since Israel’s struggle started on October 7 following Hamas’s assault, Israel has barred the entry of meals, water, medication and different provides, apart from a tiny trickle of support getting into the south from Egypt on the Rafah crossing and Israel’s Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing.
‘The US is weak’
The US’s transfer has been criticised as inefficient and easily a public relations transfer by members of worldwide support organisations.
“The airdrops are symbolic and designed in ways to appease the domestic base,” Dave Harden, former USAID director to the West Financial institution, informed Al Jazeera. “Really what needs to happen is more crossings [opening] and more trucks going in every day?”
“I think the United States is weak and that’s really disappointing to me,” Harden added. “The US has the ability to compel Israel to open up more aid and by not doing that we’re putting our assets and our people at risks and potentially creating more chaos in Gaza.”
UK-based charity Medical Assist for Palestinians (MAP) echoed Harden’s assertion, telling Al Jazeera in a press release that the US, the UK and others ought to as an alternative work to “ensure that Israel immediately opens all crossings into Gaza for aid.”
Oxfam additionally blasted the Biden administration’s plans, labelling the hassle an try to assuage the responsible consciences of US officers.
“While Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the absolute brink, dropping a paltry, symbolic amount of aid into Gaza with no plan for its safe distribution would not help and be deeply degrading to Palestinians,” Scott Paul, who leads Oxfam’s US authorities advocacy work, mentioned in a press release on X.
US is contemplating airdrops of support into Gaza. My assertion:
“Oxfam doesn’t assist US airdrops to Gaza, which might largely serve to alleviate the responsible consciences of senior US officers whose insurance policies are contributing to the continuing atrocities and threat of famine in Gaza.
1/
— Scott Paul (@ScottTPaul) February 29, 2024
The Palestinian Overseas Ministry additionally criticised the US for appearing as a “weak, marginal state” unable to safe support to Palestinians.
US Senator Bernie Sanders, nevertheless, welcomed the US’s transfer.
“I applaud President Biden for understanding that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Sanders said on X.
Mahjoob Zweiri, the director of the Gulf Examine Centre in Doha, informed Al Jazeera the worldwide group just isn’t placing sufficient strain on Israel to permit the ready support vehicles to enter Gaza by land.
“Why not send food in through Karem Abu Salem?” Zweiri mentioned. “There are 2,000 trucks waiting to get into Gaza” at border crossings, he mentioned, whereas meals and medicines pile up for months previous their expiry dates.
“Why isn’t the international community not putting enough effort into delivering aid in an organised manner?” he requested.