United States President Joe Biden announced on Friday (March 1) that the country will begin airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days. In an Oval Office discussion with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he described the killing of more than 100 civilians in Gaza as a “tragic and alarming event”. On Thursday (February 29), a large crowd in North Gaza rushed towards food aid vehicles, prompting Israeli authorities to open fire on them. “Loss of life is sad. individuals are so desperate that innocent individuals become trapped in a terrible war, unable to feed their families, and you witnessed the reaction when they attempted to bring aid in,” Biden remarked.
He added, “And we need to do more in the United States, will do more. In the coming days, we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops.” “In addition to expanding deliveries by land, as I said, we’re gonna — we’re gonna insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses because the truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough,” the US president further said. “Now, it’s nowhere near enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children’s lives are on the line and we won’t stand by and let — until they — until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several. I won’t stand by and we won’t let up,” he added.
It is extremely difficult to do an airdrop in such a crowded environment as Gaza
At a media briefing, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby stated, “There are few military operations more complex than humanitarian assistance airdrops.” This is a difficult military task to complete because so many elements must be correct. We’re going to approach this with caution, just as we would any other such operation. He also stated that the planning would be rigorous. “I am confident that we will learn from the first airdrops, and that this will be part of an ongoing effort. “This isn’t going to be one-and-done,” Kirby added.
“There will be additional airdrops planned and executed. And with each one, I think we’ll learn more and we’ll get — we’ll get better at them. It’s very difficult. It is extremely difficult to do an airdrop in such a crowded environment as Gaza. Very, very densely populated. A lot of people are confined to small spaces. So, you want to do it in a way that you can get it to close — as close as you can to the people in need, but not in a way that puts them in any danger. And so, the Pentagon will be doing a raft of planning on this,” he further said.
Kirby also added that the first airdrops will involve pallets of MREs — Meals Ready to Eat — and that the country has been working alongside international aid organisations on distribution. “I can tell you that this first one coming in — in a few days, will not be the last one. It will be part of a larger, longer, sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance,” he said.
