First time in conflict, US airdrops food in Gaza

Washington, March 2

The US military on Saturday carried out its first airdrop of aid into Gaza, after the deaths of Palestinians queuing for food underlined the growing humanitarian catastrophe in the crowded coastal enclave after months of Israeli military operations. Other countries, including Jordan and France, have already conducted airdrops of aid into Gaza, where the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says a quarter of the population — 5,76,000 people — are one step from famine.

3 of Hezbollah killed

• An Israeli drone strike killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday, security sources in Lebanon said, the latest to die in months of cross-border hostilities that have been fought in parallel to the Gaza war.
• One of those killed was a weapon technician, a source said. The Israeli army claimed the vehicle it attacked was carrying terrorists.

The US airdrop used C-130 transport aircraft which dropped more than 38,000 meals along Gaza's Mediterranean coastline, the US military said in a statement. Jordanian forces also took part in the operation.

A US official said the airdrops took place over southwestern Gaza and the town of Mawasi. Under pressure at home and abroad, the Biden administration is also considering shipping aid by sea from Cyprus, some 210 nautical miles off Gaza's coast, according to a US official.

The US for months has been calling for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, but Israel has resisted. On Thursday, Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces killed more than 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy near Gaza City. Israel blamed most of the deaths on crowds that swarmed around aid trucks. — Reuters

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