March
3, 2024
The
US joined other countries in dropping aid to Gaza by air on 2 March, an effort
that aid groups describe as "theater" that contributes to chaos on
the ground and does little to prevent the famine Israel is imposing upon 2.3
million Palestinians.
US
Central Command announced Saturday that Air Force C-130s, working with Jordan's
air force, dropped containers packed with more than 38,000 meals onto the
besieged enclave.
The
containers were dropped by parachute over the besieged enclave's Mediterranean
coastline to allow "civilian access to the critical aid," Central
Command said.
Over
the past week, Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and France have dropped tons of prepared
meals, diapers, and other essential supplies.
But
dropping aid from planes is an expensive, inefficient way to deliver aid to a
population and insufficient to meet the needs of the more than 2 million people
in Gaza, including hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation, The
Washington Post reported Sunday.
To
stave off the famine that Israel is creating in Gaza, the US must use its
leverage to force Israel to open the land crossings to aid convoys.
Philippe
Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the principal UN agency for Palestinian affairs,
described airdrops as "a last-resort, extraordinarily expensive way of
providing assistance."
"I
don't think that the airdropping of food in the Gaza Strip should be the answer
today," Lazzarini added. "The real answer is: open the crossings and
bring convoys and medical assistance into the Gaza Strip."
Janti
Soeripto, the head of Save the Children, called the Gaza airdrops
"theater" that are fueling chaos on the ground.
"You
can't really guarantee who gets it and who doesn't," she explained.
"You can't really guarantee where it ends up. You might put people at
risk," including children who have waded into the sea to try to retrieve
the heavy parcels.
The
US drops come one day after Israel opened fire and killed over 100 desperate
Palestinians seeking to receive sacks of flour from one of the few aid convoys
to reach northern Gaza.
The
Electronic Intifada noted that "What is being marketed as benevolent
assistance amounts to humanitarian aid theater that does nothing to end the
systematic and intentional campaign of starvation Israel and its American and
European allies, with the complicity of regional regimes, are waging against
Palestinians."
By
participating in these drops, Arab countries are "providing public
relations cover for countries directly involved in Israel's genocide of
Palestinians in Gaza," the news outlet added.
US
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that the air drops
were only meant to be supplemental because "You can't replicate the size
and scale and scope of a convoy of 20 or 30 trucks."
Despite
this, the White House has made no effort to force Israel to allow more convoys
into Gaza and has continued to supply Tel Aviv with weapons for its campaign
that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children.
At
the same time, Israel is deliberately ensuring that aid does not reach Gaza.
In
February, Israeli ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot proposed "a
reduction of the [aid] supply - as part of the pressure to build another
mechanism in the Strip and also as part of the moves to return the
hostages."
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