Israel’s Air Force throws relief supplies – fighting breaks announced

Israel’s Air Force throws off goods

Food aid from the air is controversial

Israel denies that there is a famine in the Gaza Strip. Now, however, more humanitarian aid should get in the coastal strips – also from the air. The first pallets have already been thrown off.

The Israeli military has resumed the drop in aid goods from the air. Shortly after the army was announced, Israeli media reported on Palestinian sources that had already been dropped out. The Israeli military agreed to take fighting breaks in densely populated areas to enable the distribution of relief goods. A system for the preparation of drinking water in the Gaza strip was also connected to the Israeli power grid again.

At the same time, the army emphasized that it continued to act against “terrorists” in the areas of application. The missions in the Gaza Strip to liberate all hostages and victory over Hamas would continue.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced such a “humanitarian break” for Sunday morning. It should apply to humanitarian corridors and lively centers, it was said in a message from the Israeli Foreign Ministry on the X. According to the military, humanitarian corridors should enable the delivery of food and medicine by the United Nations.

The first drop in aid goods from the air comprised seven pallets with food, including flour, sugar and canned goods. The campaign was carried out in coordination with international aid organizations, it said.

The Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates also announced in a post on the platform X that air drops from relief goods were “resumed immediately.”

Almost 21 months after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian area is catastrophic. The international pressure on Israel is therefore growing. According to international aid organizations, there is now a massive famine among the approximately 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. According to the local health authorities, dozens of people have starved in recent weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a fatal hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The aid organizations doctors without borders (MSF) accused Israel of “deliberately hung up” the population in the Gaza Strip and warned of malnutrition in the area. “The targeted use of hunger as a weapon by the Israeli authorities in Gaza has achieved an unprecedented extent,” criticized the organization on Friday.

Israel rejects the criticism. The government accuses the Hamas to hinder the distribution of relief goods in the Gaza Strip, to loot the humanitarian deliveries themselves, sell food at excessive prices and to shoot helpers.

At the beginning of March, Israel had prevented all aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip and only allowed them again with new restrictions in May. The government in Jerusalem said it was determined to allow help. However, this must be controlled to prevent redirection by extremists. At the same time, Israel continued his military offensive.

According to helpers, the delivery via the air path is considered the most expensive and ineffective form of humanitarian aid – also because it usually deals with relatively small amounts of food. Efms from the air are also considered dangerous because people can be injured on the ground.

The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an attack by the radical Islamic Hamas, in which around 1,200 people were killed in the south of the country on October 7, 2023 and about 250 hostages. Since then, Israel has killed almost 60,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Large parts of the area were destroyed and almost the entire population driven several times within the coastal strip.