RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Jordan had airdropped 30 tonnes of ready-to-eat food for besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) said early Sunday.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), KSrelief said the airdrop was carried out with the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) and the Jordanian Hashemite Armed Forces.
The food supplies dropped by air are suitable for immediate consumption without the need for heating, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, KSrelief director general, said in the statement.
KSrelief and other aid agencies had been resorting to parachute drops of food aid to Gaza to bypass the closure of border crossings by the Israeli occupation forces, which had previously prevented the entry of humanitarian aid to the affected people in the Strip.
Al-Rabeeah called for the opening of border crossings, noting that delivery through airdrops were not sustainable considering the massive number of people in need of humanitarian assistance.
He said KSrelief’s campaign for Palestinians to date has collected financial sums exceeding $184 million. The Kingdom also operated an air bridge consisting of 54 planes and a sea
bridge consisting of eight ships still operating.
The US military had also built a temporary sea port in Gaza for the delivery of humanitarian aid, but even that had been rendered unstable by stormy seas.
More than 2 million Palestinians had been displaced in Gaza since Israel launched a full-scale war in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to official Israeli figures.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians, per the latest count of Gaza health officials.
Extensive damage to Gaza’s infrastructure has precipitated a healthcare crisis, with an increase in communicable diseases, especially among children, and brought the entire educational system in Gaza to a standstill, according to the United Nations.
