Biden administration partners with Jordan to distribute 38,000 food rations to Palestinian refugees
The United States Air Force Central Command reported today that yesterday Saturday it carried out its first air delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, where two million Palestinians live in precarious conditions due to army attacks Israeli According to the statement, which can be consulted on X, the government of Joe Biden had the cooperation of Jordan to execute the launches, which were carried out between 15:00 and 17:00 local time. Three US Air Force C130 planes dropped 66 pallets of food, 22 per plane, according to local media. The packages did not contain water or medical materials, according to CNN.
“The Department of Defense’s humanitarian airdrops are part of the United States government’s ongoing efforts to provide essential humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We are planning for possible future airlift missions,” said the communicated The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this aid for Gaza yesterday and raised the possibility of opening a sea route to facilitate the entry of more necessary goods into the Palestinian territory besieged by the Israeli army. “There are innocent lives in danger. There are children’s lives in danger,” declared the president, who has blocked a cease-fire in Gaza up to three times in the UN Security Council citing the “right to defend Israel” for the terrorist attacks by Hamas last October 7.
NGOs denounce the insufficiency of the measure
Humanitarian aid organizations working in the conflict zone criticize that these airdrops do not cover the needs of food and supplies, where more than 2 million people who have fled the Israeli army’s assaults suffer from hunger and infectious diseases . “Airdrops do not and cannot replace humanitarian access,” the NGO International Rescue Committee warned on Friday, noting that “the fact that airdrops are even being considered the air is witness to the serious problems of access to Gaza”, a territory besieged by Israeli forces, which control the passage of any form of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
More than 30,200 dead, two million refugees and famine
In almost five months of open war since the beginning of this new escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, more than 30,200 people have died in the Strip from Israeli bombing and military operations, including the 115 who were killed on Thursday during a food distribution in Gaza City, when the Israeli army opened fire on people waiting, as it acknowledged, although it attributed the number of casualties to a stampede by hungry people who left rush towards the trucks.
An electorally decisive issue for Biden
The bloody offensive on the Palestinian territory could make Biden lose the election, who sees how sectors of the population traditionally conducive to voting for the Democratic Party, such as racialized people, young people or progressive sectors of big cities, are increasingly critical with unconditional US support for Israel. Both Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, have been the subject of several boos at public events for their handling of the conflict in Gaza, and with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government convinced to continue attacking Rafah refugees, American authorities have raised the tone against Israel and have started sending this humanitarian aid.