TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel will allow foreign countries to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by air, a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official informed Sky News on Friday. So far, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are slated to participate in these airdrop operations, as reported by ABC News.
Airdrops have been conducted intermittently in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began, but this method has been widely considered ineffective. It delivers only a limited amount of aid and has, tragically, led to several deaths and injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
"Starting this afternoon, the WCK organisation began reactivating its kitchens," the Israeli military official added.
The humanitarian aid organization World Central Kitchen had suspended its operations in Gaza last November after several of its workers were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that over 100 people have died of starvation in the Palestinian enclave since Israel restricted supplies to the territory in March, as stated by CNA. While Israel eased its blockade in May, it continues to impede the entry of crucial aid, including infant formula and other essential food supplies.
In the first two weeks of July, UNICEF, the UN children's agency, treated 5,000 Palestinian children suffering from acute malnutrition in Gaza. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on Wednesday that Gaza is experiencing widespread starvation due to aid blockades.
Aid workers in Gaza, who strive to provide food, medicine, and shelter to millions of displaced individuals, are themselves grappling with severe hunger, reportedly becoming too weak to work and even fainting.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry announced Friday that nine people had died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours.
In a Facebook post, the ministry indicated that a total of 122 people, including 83 children, have died from lack of food since the war began. There have also been reports of individuals drowning while attempting to retrieve supplies that fell into the sea.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization reportedly comprised of mercenaries backed by Israel and the United States, has been distributing food parcels in Gaza since late May, following a slight easing of Israel's 11-week aid blockade.
However, the UN and other aid organizations have refused to cooperate with the group, citing concerns about a lack of transparency and impartiality in its operations.
"This is over 1000 plus since the 27th of May when the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started distributing food and people have been shot both while trying to collect food in these distribution centers where Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distributes, but also when there have been UN convoys and other aid convoys getting into Gaza and people have tried to jump on those trucks and have been shot and killed," said Ajith Sunghay from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, the majority of them women and children.
Israel denies claims of food shortages in Gaza, despite recent warnings of mass starvation. Israel asserts it had to assume control over aid supply and distribution due to alleged theft by Hamas fighters before aid reached civilians. Hamas denies these allegations, and their denial is supported by the UN and USAID.
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