From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 1, 2024
White House: First aid airdrop will take place in coming days; more to come
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the first US airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza will take place “in the coming days” and that the operation will be replicated in the following weeks.
“The third and fourth and fifth one won’t look like the first and second one,” Kirby says during a press briefing, elaborating on the military airdrop announcement made by US President Joe Biden earlier today.
“There are few military operations that are more complicated than humanitarian assistance airdrops… because so many parameters have to be exactly right,” Kirby says, noting that the US military will have to make sure that the aid lands in a location in the densely populated Gaza warzone that is accessible to aid organizations tasked with distribution.
While airdrops are a faster method of delivery than trucks have been in Gaza, Kirby notes that the new tactic is only meant to supplement ground shipments, given that the latter can deliver at a far larger scale.
The first airdrop will consist of food, likely MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) used by the US military, Kirby says.
The US is still working to finalize details regarding who will distribute the aid once it hits the ground, he adds.
The White House spokesman highlights Biden’s other announcement that the US will redouble its efforts to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance by sea.
A maritime route would be able to deliver aid at a larger scale than airdrops, but Kirby admits that this effort is still in its earlier planning stages.
The idea has been something government officials in the region and beyond have talked about for years but has never been implemented. Even before the war broke out, Gaza’s port was barely equipped to handle large maritime shipments of aid.
Pressed repeatedly on whether the decision to announce the impending airdrops had to do with yesterday’s deadly incident in northern Gaza in which dozens were killed while seeking to collect humanitarian aid, Kirby insists that the idea had been in the works for “some time.” He adds that the stampede highlighted the need for more aid to enter Gaza through additional methods.
Kirby says the US has been in touch with Israel about this effort and notes that Israel recently conducted its own airdrop and is supportive of the US initiative.
While there are no updates to share, Kirby says the US continues to push Israel to open additional crossings into Gaza in order to facilitate the delivery of more aid. Jerusalem has been reluctant to answer calls to open the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza where it is seeking to prevent a resurgence of Hamas activity.
Kirby indicates that the US trusts Israel will be able to investigate yesterday’s incident in Gaza City, noting that they have sufficiently carried out similar probes in the past.
