The United States conducted its first airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Saturday in partnership with Jordan, as the Biden administration tries to avoid a major humanitarian disaster amid frustration with Israel.
US aircraft carried out the launch alongside the Jordanian Air Force, US Central Command said in a statement on Saturday.
The airdrops contribute “to the US government’s ongoing efforts to provide vital humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,” the statement said. “We are carrying out planning for possible follow-up air aid delivery missions.”
Three US Air Force cargo planes airdropped 66 pallets over southwestern Gaza, according to a US official. The pallets contained 38,000 prepared dishes.
The drops come a day after President Biden said the United States would find new ways to get aid to Palestinians who desperately need it due to Israel’s five-month military campaign to destroy Hamas. It also comes two days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a convoy of aid trucks in northern Gaza.
U.S. officials said the incident showed the desperation Palestinians face in Gaza and that the ground convoys Israel has allowed into the territory are not providing enough relief. But they caution that airdrops cannot transport convoy-scale supplies; Even large military cargo planes, like the C-130s used Saturday, can carry only a fraction of the supplies that a convoy of trucks can. In addition, aid that falls on the ground is difficult to secure and distribute in an orderly manner.
Their main goal, officials said, is to negotiate a pause in the fighting that would allow in much more truck traffic.
It was unclear when the next airdrop might be, as bad weather was forecast for Gaza on Sunday.