IDF to airdrop aid into Gaza tonight, will create safe routes for UN to deliver food, medicine across Strip

The Israeli military will carry out an airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza tonight, among a “series of actions” aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in the Strip, the IDF announces.

It would be the first time Israel airdrops aid into Gaza since the current war began, after previously having only allowed other countries to carry out such operations.

In a statement, the IDF says that the airdrop is being conducted by the Israeli Air Force and Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, “in coordination with international aid organizations.”

“The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,” the IDF says.

The military says that the airdrop is being carried out “in accordance with directives from the political echelon and following a situational assessment held this evening,” and is aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and “refuting the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.”

Additionally, the IDF says it was decided that “designated humanitarian corridors would be established to enable the safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine to the population.”

“The IDF is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas and will continue to operate to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate terrorists in the areas of activity,” it says.

According to the IDF and COGAT, over 250 trucks of aid were unloaded at the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings with Gaza this week, joining hundreds more trucks waiting to be collected by the UN and other international groups. In all, some 600 trucks’ worth of aid were collected and distributed in Gaza this week, according to COGAT’s figures.

“The IDF, through COGAT, will continue coordinating with international organizations to collect the contents of hundreds of trucks that have not yet been collected,” the military says.

In another effort, the military and COGAT say that in the Israel Electric Corporation connected a power line from Israel to a desalination plant in the Strip’s south, which is is expected to supply “approximately 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, up from the 2,000 cubic meters supplied until now, to serve about 900,000 residents in the area.”

“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas. Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the UN and international aid organizations. Therefore, the UN and international organizations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas,” the statement continues.

“The IDF emphasizes that combat operations have not ceased. We will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip to return all hostages and to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization, both above and below ground,” the military adds.