GAZA: American cargo planes airdropped more than 36,000 meals to Gaza Tuesday in a joint operation with Jordan, the US military said, as the international community scrambles to curb a growing humanitarian crisis there.
The United Nations has warned of famine in Gaza, while the World Health Organization said a recent aid mission to two hospitals found horrifying scenes of children dying of starvation in the territory's north.
"US Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza on March 5, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict," the military command said in a statement.
"US C-130s dropped over 36,800 US and Jordanian meal equivalents in Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid," CENTCOM said.
The United States began airdropping aid on Saturday into Gaza, which has faced relentless bombardment by Israel.
The amount of aid brought into Gaza by truck has plummeted during nearly five months of war, and Gazans are facing dire shortages of food, water and medicines.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that between 30 to 120 trucks per day had delivered aid to Gaza in the past week.
Meanwhile, Belgium sent a military transport plane to join an international operation to drop aid in war-ravaged Gaza also involving the United States, France and Jordan, officials said.
"We are not deciding when we go in. We are being told when we can go in and we will abide by that," said Colonel Bruno Beeckmans, the commander of the air base outside Brussels from where the aircraft took off.
The military Airbus A400M transporter was to make another flight from Brussels to Jordan's Zarqa air base outside Amman, to take in more more aid and personnel for the drop.
Zarqa has been a hub for what Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder said was a "humanitarian coalition for Palestine".
Jordan has conducted at least 16 air drops of aid into Gaza since the war broke out on October 7. One was made with a French military plane.
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, who was also at the Melsbroek air base, said a ceasefire was needed to allow more aid deliveries. — AFP
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