US to begin aid airdrops into Gaza after chaotic encounter leaves over 100 dead
UN convoy attacked by Israeli forces while entering Gaza strip “In the coming days we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others who are providing airdrops of additional food and supplies" and will "seek to open up other avenues in, including possibly a marine corridor," Biden said. The president twice referred to airdrops to help Ukraine, but White House officials clarified that he was referring to Gaza. Israel said many of the dead were trampled in a stampede linked to the chaos and that its troops fired at some in the crowd who they believed moved toward them in a threatening way.
The Israeli government has said it is investigating the matter. The head of a Gaza City hospital that treated some of those wounded said Friday that more than 80% had been struck by gunfire. Biden made his announcement while hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White house.
“Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough," Biden said. "Now, it’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line and children’s lives are on the line.
We won’t stand by until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several." The White House, State Department and Pentagon had been weighing the merits of U.S. military airdrops of assistance for several months, but had held off due to concerns that the method is inefficient, has no way of ensuring the aid gets to civilians in need and cannot make up for overland aid deliveries.
Read more on livemint.com
