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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘Airdrops are Ineffective’ - People in Gaza Urge to Open Crossings, Stop the War</h1>March 5, 2024</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Jordan_airdrop_PC.png" alt="" title="Jordan_airdrop_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="395" height="265" style="margin-right: 25px;">
The Jordanian army air-dropped aid and relief to displaced Palestinians in besieged Gaza. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/abdallah-aljamal" title="Display all articles for Abdallah Aljamal - Gaza">Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>The US Air Force, in collaboration with the Jordanian Air
Force, began airdropping food aid on Saturday, March 2. The US
administration announced that it had dropped about 38,000 meals in the
city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Israel has imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, bombing it from
the land, sea and air and cutting off power, food and water. The
situation is particularly dramatic in northern Gaza, where aid trucks
are now allowed to access.</span></p>
<p><span>Moreover, on February 29, Israeli forces opened fire and
shelled crowds awaiting humanitarian aid convoys at the Al-Nabulsi
roundabout, in Gaza City, killing and wounding nearly 1,000
Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span>Egypt, France, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates have
participated in aid airdrops to Gaza in recent days, but experts say
they are inefficient and expensive. </span></p>
<p><span>Additionally, part of the meals have fallen into the sea or in the so-called Gaza envelope. </span></p>
<p><span>The Palestine Chronicle spoke to some residents of Gaza. They
all agreed on the only possible solution: stopping the war and opening
all crossings.</span></p>
<h4><strong>A Small Percentage</strong></h4>
<p><span>Mohammed Al-Hams is a resident of the city of Rafah. He told
the Palestine Chronicle that its population “has multiplied by more than
five times, due to the influx of displaced people fleeing from Israeli
bombardment.”</span></p>
<p><span>“We were surprised on Saturday morning by the airdrop of aid on
the city of Rafah. The United States dropped 38,000 meals, while the
number of displaced people in the city of Rafah exceeds one and a half
million. This means that what was dropped was not even enough for 5
percent of the displaced people,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span>Ahmed al-Salehi is worried that the aid will not reach northern Gaza. </span></p>
<p><span>“We expected the food aid to be dropped on Gaza City and the
northern governorates of the Gaza Strip, but we were surprised by the
dropping of a very small batch on Rafah City,” he told us. </span></p>
<p><span>“The residents of the northern Gaza Strip need it the most.
While famine is spreading in all areas of the Gaza Strip, the residents
of Gaza and the north are the most needy at this time,” al-Salehi added.</span></p>
<p><span>Shadi Dasht told The Palestine Chronicle that “the American aid
drops cannot make the people of Gaza forget that the United States is
the biggest partner and supporter of Israel in its war on the Gaza
Strip.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The people of Gaza want the US to stop its military aid to the
occupation forces, which is much more important than dropping a few
food aids,” he said. </span></p>
<h4><strong>‘Open the Crossings’</strong></h4>
<p><span>Sahar Hussein told us that “the US is capable of pressuring the occupation and delivering aid through the Gaza crossings.”</span></p>
<p><span>“People in Gaza need flour, sugar, and essential supplies, which must be brought in through the Gaza crossings,” he explained.</span></p>
<p><span>Ahmed Abu Hamda told us that “Delivering aid through the Gaza crossings is much easier than dropping it from the air.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The US must stand by its responsibilities and stop its
continuous military support for Israel. It should pressure the
occupation to end the war and deliver aid,” he said, adding that
“everyone must work to save the children of Gaza from the war of
starvation and the continuous bombardment that has not stopped for the
last five months.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The world is currently facing a real test of its humanity,” Abu Hamda said: </span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“Either it works to stop the war, or it continues
to support Israel in the genocide we are facing in Gaza. We want to stop
the war. We want to provide food for our children. We want to live in
safety and peace. We dream of having an independent state. We dream of a
beautiful future for our children.”</span></p></blockquote>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
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<p><span>–<i> Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle in the Gaza Strip.</i></span></p></div>
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