March 20 (UPI) — U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that it conducted a humanitarian aid drop into Northern Gaza in conjunction with the Jordanian military.
“The combined joint operation included Jordanian provided food and a U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft,” CENTCOM said in a statement Wednesday. “A U.S. C-130 dropped 6,000 pounds of food including rice, flour, milk, pasta and canned foods, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza.”
The Gaza Ministry of Health said five children were killed and several other people were injured in a “random” airdrop on March 8.
The United States denied responsibility for that airdrop.
The Government Media Office in Gaza at the time criticized airdrops as “useless” and called for land crossings to be opened immediately.
On Tuesday, World Central Kitchen said it delivered nearly 200 tons of meals in Northern Gaza in the first delivery through a sea corridor meant to supplement aid delivery.
“The aid went to families facing starvation in areas largely cut off by the war,” WCK posted to X Tuesday. “Our teams are working to provide millions wore meals via sea to Palestinians.”
Earlier this month, a report from the U.N. found that at least ten children had died from starvation, though U.N. officials say the true death toll from starvation is likely higher.
On Tuesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the Israeli Military’s actions were responsible for the famine crisis.
“The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the civilian population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure,” Turk said in a statement.
Turk suggested that the actions of Israeli forces could amount to the use of starvation as a weapon.
“The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime,” Volker said.
Last month, the death toll in Gaza surpassed 30,000, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of health.
