US carries out its first aid airdrop in Gaza

The move has been criticised as mere public relations antics with aid agencies calling for Washington to stop supplying weapons to Israel.

Mar 3, 2024 - 09:00

US carries out its first aid airdrop in Gaza

The United States on Saturday carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, even as Israel continues to block access to the besieged territory.

The US Central Command conducted a combined operation with the Royal Jordanian Air Force and dropped over 38,000 meals along the coastline of Gaza, allowing for civilian access to critical aid.

“The DoD [Department of Defence] humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing US government efforts to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza,” the US Central Command said in a social media post. “We are conducting planning for potential follow-on airborne aid delivery missions.”

It added: “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.”

However, the US move has been criticised as mere public relations antics, reported Al Jazeera.

“The airdrops are symbolic and designed in ways to appease the domestic base,” former USAID director to the West Bank Dave Harden told Al Jazeera. “Really what needs to happen is more crossings [opening] and more trucks going in every day.”

Scott Paul who heads non-governmental organisation Oxfam’s US government advocacy work said that Washington should instead shut its supply of weapons to Israel.