US military aircraft ‘C-130’ today parachuted around 38,000 meals over Gaza, in what is the first wave of emergency humanitarian aid authorized by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, official sources indicated.
The food aid, the sources recalled, arrives in Gaza two days after more than 110 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army while boarding trucks with humanitarian aid.
Three Central Air Force planes dropped 66 packages containing about 38,000 meals into Gaza, according to two of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement.
The airdrop is expected to be the first of many announced Friday by Biden. Aid will be coordinated with Jordan, which also carried out airdrops to deliver food to Gaza.
At least 115 Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others injured in Thursday’s attack as they struggled for aid, the Health Ministry said in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Israel says that many of those killed were victims of a crowd that created a chaotic atmosphere in search of food aid, while troops fired warning shots after many approached Israeli military positions in a threatening manner.
Friday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said airdrops were in the planning phase to safely deliver emergency humanitarian assistance to people on the ground.
The ‘C-130’ cargo plane is an aircraft often used to deliver aid to remote locations due to its ability to land in austere environments and payload capacity.
A ‘C-130’ can carry up to 19 tons of cargo.
The crews are very knowledgeable about how to assemble the cargo, which can sometimes even include vehicles, onto huge pallets that can be dropped, with parachute, safely at the rear of the aircraft.
Air Force loadmasters secure packages to pallets with nets that are prepared to be released from the rear of a C-130 with a parachute when the aircraft reaches the intended delivery zone.
The US Air Force’s ‘C-130’ has been used in recent years for humanitarian airdrops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and other locations.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, Israeli troops have banned the entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies, except for a small amount of aid arriving south from Egypt at the border crossing. Rafah and Kerem Shalom, in Israel.
The United Nations says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are facing hunger.
Humanitarian officials have said airdrops are not an efficient means of distributing aid and are only a measure of last resort.
