UK air-drop aid into Gaza for the first time amidst conflict

New Delhi, Feb 22: The United Kingdom has initiated air-dropping aid into Gaza for the first time since the outbreak of conflict, following an agreement with Jordan. On Wednesday, a Jordanian Air Force plane delivered four tonnes of vital supplies, including medicines, food, and fuel, into the besieged strip. The packages, equipped with parachutes, descended upon the Tal Al-Hawa Hospital located in northern Gaza.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron emphasized the life-saving impact of the aid, asserting its crucial role in sustaining the hospital's operations. Previously, the UK had only dispatched aid to Gaza via land and sea routes, but the dire situation in northern Gaza, ravaged by months of conflict, rendered conventional access impossible.

The World Food Programme, citing "complete chaos and violence," had suspended its deliveries to the area. With a heavy Israeli military presence and a displaced population forced southward, an estimated 300,000 Palestinians remained stranded in northern Gaza, facing acute shortages of food and water. The United Nations had long sounded the alarm about an impending famine in the region.

The British-Jordanian aid delivery comprised diesel, essential medical equipment, and ration packs tailored for patients and medical personnel. The Jordanian aircrew laid packets guided by GPS trackers that landed precisely on the target, in the hospital area.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force Hercules aircraft executed two passes to drop the four tonnes of British aid directly into northern Gaza, shortly after sunset. The pallets, meticulously fitted with parachutes, were destined for an area north of a Jordanian army field hospital in Gaza City.