Israel “was not involved in the inspection” of the food packages dropped over Gaza on Saturday during a joint operation with Jordan, the Pentagon told The Jerusalem Post.
“The goods are prepackaged foods that are inspected at the time of processing and before delivery,” the Pentagon said. No details were given as to how the goods were inspected or where the aircraft departed for the drop.
John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, told reporters on Monday that the delivery of 38,000 ready-to-eat meals to Gaza was made in collaboration with Jordan's Royal Air Force. “In this operation, 66 relief packages were loaded onto three C-130 aircraft and delivered to people who urgently needed them,” he said. It was the second such airdrop, with Jordan conducting the first such operation on Tuesday. The USA is planning further air drops.
Other countries, including Belgium, want to carry out similar operations to resolve problems distributing ground aid during an ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas, which the United Nations says has led to a food crisis in the enclave home to 2.3 Millions of people.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) expressed concerns about the security aspects of such operations when he spoke to his faction in the Knesset on Monday. In a speech attacking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Lapid said it was “not qualified” to lead the war or conduct the necessary diplomacy to do so. Soldiers stand near the Belgian Air Force's Airbus A400M Atlas, loaded with humanitarian aid destined for an airdrop over Gaza, at the Belgian military airport in Melsbroek, Belgium, March 4, 2024. (Credit: Portal/YVES HERMAN)
Lapid pointed to the issue of airdrops as an example, stating that “the American and Jordanian airdrops in Gaza were not subject to security checks.” The Americans have lost trust in this government. They have lost confidence in Netanyahu’s ability to run a campaign.”
Israel controls goods entering Gaza
However, Israel's Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is tasked with overseeing goods entering the Gaza Strip by air, sea and land, said Israel was involved in the inspections. “The aid packages flown to the Gaza Strip are subject to security checks that also involve Israeli officials.”
COGAT did not elaborate, nor did the U.S. or Lapid's office when asked for further details about how the safety of goods that have been or will be airdropped in the future have been or will be handled should.
Israel strictly controls the import of goods into Gaza to ensure that no weapons or materials that could be used to make weapons are smuggled into the enclave to support Hamas in its war against Israel. This includes a control mechanism for goods entering the Gaza Strip via the Egyptian Rafah border.
Before the war, there were three land crossings into Gaza, two of which were controlled by Israel at Kerem Shalom and Erez and a third at Rafah under Egyptian control. Rafah and Erez were considered pedestrian crossings, while Kerem Shalom was the main road used to transport goods into the enclave. For security reasons, Israel has long controlled the Gaza Strip's air and sea space. There is no port in Gaza for large cargo ships and Gaza only had an airport briefly from 1998 to 2001.
The Jordanian and U.S. airdrops mark the first time non-Israeli aircraft have flown over Gaza airspace in more than two decades.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.