U.S. military C-130 cargo planes on Saturday, March 1, 2024,
dropped food in pallets over Gaza, two days after more than 100 Palestinians
who had surged to pull goods off an aid convoy were killed during a chaotic
encounter with Israeli troops.
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force
conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza, CENTCOM said in
a statement. A defense official told CBS News three U.S. C-130 cargo planes
dropped 66 total bundles, equating to about 38,000 pork-free meals, into the
territory on Saturday morning. The bundles were split between three planes, the
official said.
The airdrop is expected to be the first of many announced by
President Joe Biden on Friday. The aid will be coordinated with Jordan, which
has also conducted airdrops to deliver food to Gaza. A U.S. official said that
the next drop is planned for Wednesday.
"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," the statement said, adding that the military is
"conducting planning for potential follow-on airborne aid delivery
missions."
At least 115 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more
wounded in the Thursday attack as they scrambled for aid, the Health Ministry
in Hamas-ruled Gaza said. Israel says many of the dead were trampled in a
chaotic crush for food aid, and its troops fired warning shots after the crowd
moved toward them in a threatening way.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said
Friday that the airdrops were being planned to deliver emergency humanitarian
assistance safely to people on the ground.
The C-130 cargo plane is a widely used military jet to
deliver aid to remote places due to its ability to land in austere environments
and cargo capacity. It airlifts as much as 42,000 pounds of cargo and its crews
know how to rig the cargo, which sometimes can include even vehicles, onto
massive pallets that can be safely dropped out of the back of the aircraft.
Air Force loadmasters secure the bundles onto pallets with
netting that is rigged for release in the back of a C-130, and then crews
release it with a parachute when the aircraft reaches the intended delivery
zone.
The Air Force's C-130 has been used in years past to air
drop humanitarian into Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and other locations and the
airframe is used in an annual multi-national "Operation Christmas
Drop" that air drops pallets of toys, supplies, nonperishable food and
fishing supplies to remote locations in the Federated States of Micronesia and
the Republic of Palau.
Since the war began on Oct. 7, Israel has barred entry of
food, water, medicine and other supplies, except for a trickle of aid entering
the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing.
The United Nations says a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million
people face starvation. Aid officials have said that airdrops are not an
efficient means of distributing aid and are a measure of last resort.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to meet with
Israeli government minister Benny Gantz on Monday. The meeting "is part of
our continued efforts to engage with a wide range of Israeli officials on the
war in Gaza and planning for the day after," a White House official disclosed.
.jpg "Yam prices surge in Dambai market amid harvest season")