As we reported earlier, the US made its first successful aid airdrops over Gaza on Saturday, at a moment the White House is seeking to stave off further humanitarian disaster in the Strip as the war presses on.
Local footage has begun emerging, captured by Palestinians scrambling to access the aid. Like Jordan before, the US C-130s flew low and dropped the aid crates over and near the beach. Hundreds if not thousands of people could be seen clamoring to open the crates.
This video is heartbreaking for me.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 3, 2024
And what makes it crazier is the reason WHY the US is airdropping aid.
Have you asked yourself why don't they just send aid through trucks as usual?
Israel, which is heavily funded by the US, is limiting aid and blocking access to a lot of… pic.twitter.com/Wvlq9azTFd
Pentagon officials have said that such air drops can be risky in terms of the safety of people on the ground, hence a beach is 'open air' enough for an optimally safe delivery.
Israel's military over the weekend issued a video saying it had authorized the US airdrops and coordinated with the Pentagon.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel is working with international partners "to enable the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza."
"We encourage all efforts, all of them to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza," he said also of airdrops by the Royal Jordanian Air Force, which has conducted at least 16 drops since the Gaza war began.
Meanwhile, there are emerging reports Sunday saying that children in some local hospitals have begun to die of malnutrition. "The number of children who have died of dehydration and malnutrition in northern Gaza has risen to 15, a Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman there said Sunday," CNN reports.
Days ago, King Abdullah of Jordan took part in the aid drops...
King of Jordan takes part in Gaza aid drops
— RT (@RT_com) February 28, 2024
Three Jordanian aircraft participated in the drop, alongside planes from the UAE, Egypt and France
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But the report also says that "CNN cannot independently confirm the deaths of the children or their causes due to the lack of international media access to wartime Gaza."
US officials have reportedly been pressuring Tel Aviv to allow quicker unhindered access of humanitarian cargo trucks waiting at the Rafah border crossing to access the Gaza Strip. The scope of Israel's ongoing military operation against Hamas has been a point of contention between the White House and Netanyahu government, given fears there will likely be mass civilian casualties in an impending Rafah ground assault.
