02 March 2024 , 20:52
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The US made its first humanitarian airdrop in war-torn Gaza as ceasefire talks continued.
Hercules C130 transport planes dropped 38,000 meals over the coastline of the stricken Strip to allow civilians access to critical aid. It came as the UN confirmed many people treated for injuries after an encounter with Israeli troops as they rushed an aid convoy in Gaza on Thursday had suffered bullet wounds.
The airdrop – carried out in combination with the Royal Jordanian Air Force – is expected to be the first of many after Joe Biden pledged on Friday: “We need to do more, and the United States will do more.” Last month, the UK and Jordan airdropped aid to a hospital in the north of Gaza.
US Central Command said it was planning more similar “life-saving” missions as the UN warns a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3million population face starvation. A spokesman said: “The combined operation included the US Air Force and RJAF C-130 aircraft.” The US move follows the deaths of at least 115 Palestinians in a crowd who descended on an aid convoy on a coastal road.
A child stands in the rubble in central Gaza (AFP via Getty Images)The head of the Gaza sub-office of the UN Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Affairs has confirmed he and a team sent to Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital found a large number of people with bullet wounds.
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He said all but a handful of the 70 to 80 patients in the emergency room he visited had been injured in the convoy incident. Palestinians said nearby Israeli troops shot into the crowd.
US troops drop aid into Gaza (US Department of Defense/AFP via)Israel claims they fired only warning shots towards them, insisting many of the dead were trampled. But earlier a boss at Al-Awda Hospital claimed that of 176 injured people taken to the facility from the convoy incident, 142 had gunshot wounds.
Yesterday Israel launched an airstrike that hit Palestinians who were sheltering in tents – killing at least 11 people near a maternity hospital in Rafah City, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It was reported that the IDF described it as a “precision strike” against a “terrorist infrastructure”.