Government officials in Gaza say aid from the air does not meet the need (French)

Royal Jordanian Air Force aircraft once again carried out operations to deliver humanitarian aid from the air to a number of sites in the northern Gaza Strip, with the participation of Egyptian, American, French and Belgian aircraft. While Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that aid from the air occurs due to the difficulties facing the operations of bringing it in by land, The mayor of Jabalia, Mazen Al-Najjar, confirmed that this aid does not meet the need, and the solution is to open the crossings.

The Jordanian army said in a statement on Saturday, "The Jordanian Armed Forces carried out 10 airdrops in cooperation with sisterly and friendly countries, targeting a number of sites in the northern Gaza Strip, in order to mitigate the effects of the bloody war on the Gaza Strip."

The statement added that the operation took place with the participation of “two +130+ aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, 4 American aircraft, two French aircraft, a Belgian aircraft, and an Egyptian aircraft.”

He continued that the Jordanian army had carried out "since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, 35 Jordanian airdrops, and 36 airdrops carried out by the armed forces in cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries," which also included the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Egypt, and the Emirates.

The Jordanian army announced yesterday that Jordanian aircraft carried out new airdrops of humanitarian aid to sites in northern Gaza, with the participation of American, French, Belgian, Dutch and Egyptian military aircraft.

An operation to drop packages from planes on Gaza City yesterday led to the death of 5 people and the injury of 10 others, according to a hospital source.

Both the Jordanian and American armies confirmed that their aircraft did not cause the accident.

For his part, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that a number of people were injured as aid boxes fell on western Gaza City without their umbrellas opening. Al Jazeera obtained photos broadcast by activists documenting the moment two aid boxes without umbrellas fell from the air.

Al-Sisi saw that what is happening in Gaza is a challenge to Egypt and the entire (European) region.

Sisi's statements

In a related context, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the aid being dropped by air into the Gaza Strip occurs because of the difficulties facing the process of bringing it in by land.

He added that his country is keen for the Rafah crossing to remain open throughout the day for the entry of humanitarian aid, and for it not to be closed at all.

The Cairo News Channel quoted Al-Sisi as saying today, during the “Martyr’s Day” celebration, that “what is happening in Gaza is a challenge to Egypt and the entire region.” He pointed out that “the challenges in the region have many impacts, and our conditions are improving,” stressing that Egypt will continue to... A factor of stability and peace in the region.

In the face of insufficient land aid, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday in Cyprus that she hopes to open a sea corridor tomorrow, Sunday, that will allow the delivery of humanitarian aid from the Mediterranean island, which is about 370 km from Gaza.

An American charitable foundation also announced that it is loading aid for Gaza on a ship in Cyprus, which will be the first shipment sent to the war-torn sector, through a sea corridor that the European Commission hopes to open at the end of this week.

After 5 months of war and a tight siege on the Gaza Strip, the vast majority of the Palestinian Strip’s population, numbering about 2,400,000 people, are at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

The director of the government media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, warned that 120,000 families are suffering from real famine in the northern Gaza Strip.

He said that the occupation is obstructing the entry of aid, stressing the need to activate the Gaza Strip crossings.

For his part, the mayor of Jabalia, Mazen Al-Najjar, said that the aid dropped by air does not meet the need.

He added in an interview with Al Jazeera that the solution is to open the crossings, and that what is happening is starvation of the Palestinian people.

The transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza across the land borders (from Rafah to the south and from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel) has declined, and relief organizations attribute this to Israeli restrictions.

More than 100 people were martyred and more than 250 people were injured, in a massacre committed by the Israeli occupation, targeting crowds who were waiting to receive aid in the northern Gaza Strip.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies