Global News Desk:
US President Joe Biden announced
on Friday 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.
Biden said the US airdrop would
take place in the coming days but offered no further specifics. Other
countries, including Jordan and France, have already carried out airdrops of
aid into Gaza.
"We need to do more and the
United States will do more," Biden told reporters, 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." He added that the first airdrop would be likely be military MREs,
or "meals ready-to-eat."
"This isn't going to be one
and done," Kirby said.
Biden told reporters that the US
was 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 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Gaza health authorities said
Israeli forces had killed more than 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy
near Gaza City early on Thursday. Palestinians face an increasingly desperate
situation nearly five months into the war that began with a Hamas attack on
Israel on Oct. 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's
right up their mission alley," Deptula told Reuters. "There are a lot
of detailed challenges. But there's nothing insurmountable."
The United States 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 doesn't deal with the
root cause," the official said, adding that ultimately only opening up
land borders could deal with the issue in a serious manner. Another issue, the
official added, was that the US could not ensure that the aid simply didn't end
up in Hamas' hands, given that the United States did not have troops on the
ground.
"Humanitarian workers always
complain that airdrops are good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver
aid," Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group's UN Director, said.
Gowan said that 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 added.
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 on condition of anonymity, did not reply to a question on
whether the US had sought Israeli agreement in advance on the air drops or was
coordinating the effort with it.
Biden's announcement of the fresh
aid to Gaza was marred by gaffes as he twice confused it for Ukraine. The UN
delivered aid to besieged northern Gaza for the first time in over a week on
Friday, 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 10
days ago that it was pausing deliveries of food aid to northern Gaza until
conditions in the Palestinian enclave allow for safe distribution.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency
UNRWA said on Friday that during February an average of nearly 97 trucks were
able to enter Gaza each day, compared with about 150 trucks a day in January,
adding: "The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target
of 500 per day." (News Source By The Daily Star)