Airdrops of food aid resumed in parts of Gaza on Sunday following Israel’s opening of humanitarian corridors and a limited pause in fighting in the Palestinian enclave.
Jordan announced it had conducted three airdrops over the skies of Gaza on Sunday, including one in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It said its cargo planes had dropped 25 tons of food and supplies on several locations in Gaza.
According to media reports, some Palestinians lamented their struggle to access the humanitarian aid once it had fallen to the ground, sometimes in militarised zones.
The airdrop of food aid comes after Israel opened the humanitarian corridor to the besieged Palestinian enclave on Saturday night, and its military announced on Sunday it had begun a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day.
The pause, the Israeli army said, was part of a series of steps to secure routes for aid delivery in Gaza as concerns over surging hunger in the territory mount.
It also said it carried out aid airdrops into Gaza, which included packages of aid with flour, sugar, and canned food.
The situation in Gaza has drawn a wave of international criticism over Israel’s conduct in the 21-month war, especially as images of emaciated Palestinian children in the territory emerged and hunger deaths began to circulate widely.
UN welcomes steps to ease blockade but warns risks remain
Meanwhile, the United Nations on Sunday welcomed the steps to ease aid restrictions but said a broader ceasefire was needed to ensure goods reached everyone in need in Gaza.
UNICEF called it “an opportunity to save lives,” and amid a fresh warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) that malnutrition rates in Gaza are on a “dangerous trajectory,” marked by a spike in deaths in July.
Experts have long warned of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule, without providing evidence for that claim.
That claim was also repeated on Sunday by US President Donald Trump while answering questions from reporters in Scotland about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Trump claims Hamas steals food aid
Trump said, “We’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food and a lot of everything. If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well, but a lot of that food is getting stolen by Hamas.”
His remarks and position contradict that of an internal US government review, which recently found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private group.
Alongside the controversial blame on Hamas, Israel also accuses the UN of not getting the food aid and delivering it to those in need, a claim that UN aid agencies rebuff, saying they often need permission from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to use travel routes for obvious safety reasons.
