The United States conducted its first airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Saturday with the help of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, according to an announcement from the U.S. Central Command (Centcom).
Centcom said that the drop had taken place between 3 and 5 p.m. Gaza time by the “U.S. Air Force and RJAF C-130 aircraft.” The payload consisted of 66 pallets with 38,000 prepared meals that were dropped “along the coastline of Gaza allowing for civilian access to the critical aid.” (RELATED: ‘You’re Smiling, But You Should Do It’: Kirby Gets Heated With Reporter Who Suggests US Funding Both Sides Of Gaza War)
“The DoD humanitarian airdrops contributes to ongoing U.S. government efforts to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza,” the announcement reads. “We are conducting planning for potential follow-on airborne aid delivery missions. These airdrops are part of a sustained effort to get more aid into Gaza, including by expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes.”
United States Central Command and Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Combined Airdrops of Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza on March 2, 2024, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.… pic.twitter.com/yiJoQTWeZW
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2024
President Joe Biden said on Friday that the U.S. was planning an airdrop to bring relief to the area in the coming weeks as Israel continues its campaign to wipe out the terrorist organization of Hamas. The administration only recently began discussing airdrops but officials also said that the efforts would likely not make a significant dent in the growing crisis in the area.
It costs at least $16,000 per ton to drop food via airdrop, nearly a hundred times the cost of delivering food by truck, which is about $18 per ton. Relief organizations such as Oxfam have said that airdrops are a costly symbolic gesture that will deliver only minuscule amounts of food. Airdrops have been called an “expensive gimmick.”
The U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy and others indefinitely ceased all aid through the United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), which is supposed to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to Gaza, in January after reports surfaced that employees had prior knowledge of Hamas’ plans for Oct. 7 and even participated in the attack. The United Nations, however, has raised concerns that the 576,000 people in Gaza face a serious possibility of famine without aid, according to The Wall Street Journal.
