US, Jordan conduct humanitarian aid airdrops in Gaza

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US and Jordan conducted additional humanitarian aid airdrops into northern Gaza on Tuesday to provide relief to civilians affected by the Israel-Hamas war.

"The combined joint operation included U.S. and Jordanian provided food and three C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft. The U.S. C-130s dropped over 25,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza," the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

More than 13,000 meal equivalents of Jordanian food supplies were also delivered, it said, adding the US has dropped nearly 1,140 tons of humanitarian assistance to date.

During his visit to Jordan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken oversaw the departure of the first Jordanian truck convoy on Tuesday that is carrying aid to Gaza through the recently reopened Erez crossing by Israel.

Blinken emphasized that "more still needs to be done" to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while acknowledging the significance of the development.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and thousands injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.