The UK has completed its 11th airdrop into Gaza, reaching the milestone of over 100 tonnes of life-saving aid delivered by air. Over the course of 11 Royal Air Force flights, the UK has delivered ready-to-eat meals, water, rice, tinned goods, and flour, with a total of 12 tonnes dropped into Northern Gaza.
The UK began conducting airdrops in late March, as part of the Jordanian international initiative. The Royal Air Force has used A400Ms, flying from Amman, Jordan, where aid pallets attached to parachutes are collected and loaded by RAF and British Army personnel.
The aid is dropped along the northern coastline of Gaza, with drop zones regularly surveyed to ensure civilians are not harmed. Each flight takes around one hour and British personnel work closely with the Royal Jordanian Air Force to plan and conduct each mission.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: ”Our commitment to delivering large quantities of aid to those most in need is unwavering, this milestone is both testament to that and a demonstration of where our focus lies over the coming weeks and months. Given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, we deployed RFA Cardigan Bay to the Eastern Mediterranean to support efforts to build a temporary pier to deliver crucial humanitarian assistance. We continue to pressure Israel to fully open Ashdod Port as well as more land crossings”.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: ”The UK is playing a leadership role in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Through our partnership with Jordan, we have now delivered 100 tonnes of life-saving aid by air. But it is only by land that we will be able to transport the full amount of humanitarian assistance needed. We have seen an encouraging increase in the number of aid trucks getting in, but we must see further action so that more aid gets over the border and is safely distributed”.
Royal Navy support ship RFA Cardigan Bay recently set sail from Cyprus to support international efforts to open a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. The ship is providing accommodation for hundreds of US sailors and soldiers building a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza. According to US estimates, this pier will initially facilitate the delivery of 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza and scale up to 150 truckloads once fully operational.
As land routes remain the quickest and most effective means of delivering aid, the UK also continues to engage with Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza.