The United States and Jordan air-dropped humanitarian aid into Gaza, US Central Command said Saturday, one day after President Joe Biden asserted the US would pull out “every stop” to get more aid into the besieged coastal enclave.
The combined operation by the US Air Force and the Royal Jordanian Air Force saw US C-130 aircraft dropping 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline, CENTCOM said in a statement.
There were 66 total bundles dropped – 22 from each of three aircraft, a US official said. There was no water or medical supplies in the bundles.
“These airdrops are part of a sustained effort to get more aid into Gaza, including by expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes,” CENTCOM said.
White House officials described Saturday’s operation as “successful.”
“The fact that today’s airdrop was successful is an important test case to show that we can do this again in the coming days and weeks successfully,” a senior administration official said during a call with reporters Saturday.
The senior official added that the Defense Department is planning on conducting additional airdrops in Gaza in the days ahead but declined to offer further details.
Following Saturday’s airdrops, Biden said on social media that the amount of aid flowing into Gaza was “not nearly enough” and that the US would “continue to pull out every stop we can to get more aid in.”
The comments echo Biden’s remarks from a day earlier when he bemoaned the slow pace of assistance into Gaza. Speaking alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office, Biden also said that the US was working to broker a ceasefire that would allow for additional aid.
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