UAE and Jordan conduct new air drops to Gaza as Emirati aid convoy arrives

The National

5 days ago

The UAE and Jordan air dropped critical aid into the Gaza Strip for a fourth day on Wednesday as an Emirati convoy of 58 lorries brought more humanitarian supplies into the enclave.
Jordan's Petra news agency said the airdrops were carried out by two C-130 Royal Jordanian Air Force planes and an Emirati counterpart.
It added that 16 tonnes of food and baby formula were delivered to various areas of Gaza Strip, bringing the total cargo dropped over the past few days to about 73 tonnes of essential supplies.
The fleet of lorries arrived in Gaza through border crossings to support broader relief operations in support of Palestinians, state news agency Wam reported.
Meanwhile, Belgium will take part in a multicountry operation in co-ordination with Jordan to air drop aid to Gaza, Brussels has announced, as UN agencies warn the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine.
A Belgian aircraft carrying medical supplies and food worth €600,000 ($690,000) will "soon" fly to Jordan and remain on stand-by to conduct air drops, said the defence and foreign ministries in Brussels.
Gaza's hospitals have recorded seven new deaths from malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
This takes the death toll from starvation during the conflict to 154 – including 89 children – the ministry said.
At least 60,138 Palestinians have been killed and 146,269 wounded since the Gaza war began, the ministry said.