US Army conducts 11th humanitarian aid airdrop in Gaza

ISTANBUL

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday it conducted its 11th humanitarian aid airdrop in the northern Gaza Strip.

A US Army C-17 and C-130s aircraft "dropped over 35,700 US meals ready to eat and 31,800 bottles of water”

It said the "humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing US and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering" in the Gaza Strip.

"These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries," said CENTCOM.

On March 5, the US army began airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza, mostly conducted with the Jordanian armed forces.

Several countries including Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, started airdropping aid across the Gaza Strip as Israel restricts the entry of humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave through land crossings.

Israel has waged a retaliatory offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7. The offensive has killed more than 31,000 victims and injured over 73,000 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar