President Biden says US is working to airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Friday the U.S. would airdrop humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip to help alleviate hunger and suffering triggered by the Israel-Hamas war.
Biden, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said “innocent people” have died in Gaza. He said the airdrops would start "in the coming days."
The humanitarian aid will be delivered by a U.S. military aircraft, according to a U.S official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
"Innocent people got caught in a terrible war unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid," Biden said. "But we need to do more, and the United States will do more."
Biden said the U.S. would join Jordan and other countries to provide airdrops of supplies into Gaza and would seek to open up other avenues into the region, including the possibility of a marine corridor delivering large amounts of humanitarian assistance.
"Aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now ? it's nowhere nearly enough," he said. "Innocent lives are on the line and children's lives are on the line."
Humanitarian officials have warned that hunger and disease are spreading fast in Gaza, particularly in the northern part of the strip, as the result of five months of attacks in the war.
A deal that would trigger a six-week ceasefire is also on the table, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said later in the day. A cease-fire would allow aid to flow more freely, he said.
Top U.N. officials said earlier this week that at least one quarter of Gaza’s population – 576,000 people – is one step away from famine and that virtually the entire population desperately needs food. Some aid trucks have been shot at, looted and overwhelmed by hungry people.
In addition, 1 in 6 children under the age of two in northern Gaza are suffering from “acute malnutrition and wasting,” where the body becomes emaciated, officials said.
Biden twice referred to Gaza as Ukraine while discussing the matter. "In the coming days, we are going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of additional food and supplies into Ukraine and seek to continue to open up other avenues into Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance," Biden said.
It is the first of a series of expected airdrops. The White House could not say precisely when they would begin. Kirby stressed that the airdrops will supplement the existing deliveries of humanitarian aid.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden says US will airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza
