US resumes humanitarian airdrops into Gaza

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US resumed airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday after they were suspended for a while due to Israeli operations in the north of besieged enclave.

"U.S. Central Command conducted a humanitarian assistance airdrop into northern Gaza on June 9, 2024 to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

"The joint operation included one U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft," it added.

It said the C-130 dropped more than 10 metric tons of meals ready to eat in northern Gaza, adding to date, the US has airdropped more than 1,050 tons of humanitarian assistance in addition to the assistance delivered by the Joint Logistics Over the Sea (JLOTS) corridor.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of CENTCOM, told reporters by phone Friday that the airdrops were suspended "due to the kinetic operations happening in the north."

Cooper added that the US sees airdrops as a "temporary solution.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.