Biden says US will begin airdrops in Gaza
President Biden said Friday that the United States will begin dropping humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza, a decision prompted by the dozens of Palestinians killed when Israeli forces opened fire near an aid convoy in Gaza City a day earlier.
“Innocent people got caught up in a terrible war and couldn’t feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get help,” Biden said before meeting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy. “And we must do more, and the United States will do more.”
Mr. Biden said the United States would work with Jordan, which is spearheading the airdrop effort into Gaza, and other allies to deliver aid by air, and that supplies could eventually be delivered by sea.
“The flow of aid into Gaza right now is not nearly enough,” Biden said. “Innocent lives are at stake, and the lives of children are at stake.”
Mr. Biden and Ms. Meloni discussed efforts to prevent the war in Gaza from becoming a wider conflict, as well as support for Ukraine and steps to tackle human trafficking and global migration.
John F. Kirby, a senior National Security Council official, said the first airborne drops would target food, followed by water and medicine. A US military official said the Air Force plans to cut 50,000 meal rations.
The Biden administration has been considering airdrops for some time but has so far opted against it, in part because of the logistical challenges of dropping aid in a densely populated war zone. But Mr Kirby said Thursday’s chaos had underlined the need to find “more creative ways to get help faster and on a larger scale.”
The deaths surrounding the convoy have brought the humanitarian crisis in Gaza into sharper focus among government officials, they say. Officials have said they do not know what exactly happened in the convoy, but they believe Thursday’s disastrous events demonstrate the lack of security in Gaza, throwing into sharp relief the failure of Israel’s war and the increasingly desperate developing situation for the Palestinians there.
The deaths could prove to be something of a turning point, prompting the White House to put greater pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid.
Mr. Kirby said the deaths demonstrate the need for Hamas and Israel to agree to a ceasefire and release the hostages held in Gaza. A pause in Israel’s military operations would allow more humanitarian aid to enter the area more quickly, he said.
Many questions remain unanswered about the killings surrounding the aid convoy on Thursday, about which the Israeli army and Gazan officials gave differing explanations.
Health officials in Gaza say more than 100 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 injured on Thursday when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds gathered near an aid convoy in Gaza City. Witnesses say they saw people shot as they ran to the emergency vehicles.
The Israeli military said a large crowd stormed the convoy and that Israeli forces fired at a crowd that “moved in a way that endangered them.” The Israeli military said most of the deaths were caused by trampling and that people had also been run over by the aid trucks.
Mr. Kirby said the Biden administration believed Israel was conducting a fair investigation into the violence.
“There are indications that they are taking this seriously,” Kirby said, adding that the United States wants answers as soon as possible. “Let’s see what they come up with and see what they learn.”