A new round of humanitarian aid was organized this Sunday in the Gaza Strip, where war and famine threaten hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. On the ground, hundreds of men, women and children parachuted toward aid boxes before rushing to collect packages, a journalist on board the Jordanian plane said.
During the three-hour operation, packages were dropped in several areas of the besieged Palestinian territory, where the destruction was clearly visible from the sky. According to a statement issued by the Jordanian army, American, French, Belgian and Egyptian aircraft participated in this operation.
“Mitigate the Consequences of War”
According to a military press release, aid was dropped “at several sites in the northern Gaza Strip as part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's international efforts to mitigate the effects of the war in the Gaza Strip.” Aboard the Jordanian plane, a soldier who saw Gazans running towards the aid packages took a bottle of juice from his pocket and placed it in one of the boxes before dropping it down.
The U.N. warns of “almost inevitable widespread famine” in Gaza, and airdrops and seaborne aid are unlikely to replace land routes. Already under Israeli blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007, the Gaza Strip is bordered by Israel, Egypt, which has closed its border, and the Mediterranean Sea.
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