Jordan airdrops aid to northern Gaza for first time in five months, official source

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordanian military planes dropped aid to northern Gaza on Tuesday for the first time in five months to help relieve the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, the army said.

Two C-130 planes belonging to the Jordanian air force dropped the cargo, comprising nearly seven tonnes of food and other essential relief, to areas the U.N. agencies identified as most in need, the army said.

"The kingdom is maintaining an air and land corridor as part of its efforts to step up aid," an army source told Reuters

A U.N. aid official said last week that Gaza aid access had reached a low point, with deliveries to parts of the besieged north of the enclave all but impossible.

Jordan has been air-dropping aid and sending convoys westward overland to the Palestinians in Gaza throughout the war that erupted in October 2023 between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that has been ruling the enclave.

The army said it has so far launched around 400 such operations by its airforce and allied countries.

King Abdullah has accused Israel of placing obstacles to deliveries and has called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to allow uninterrupted aid flows.

Washington has prodded Israel to expand the use of a land corridor through Jordan that first began late last year. The World Food Programme (WFP) wants it to be a major conduit for the supply of U.N.-funded food and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Israeli officials deny accusations they are deliberately using aid as a political weapon and say they have been seeking to alleviate the humanitarian situation since the start of the war.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Peter Graff and Gareth Jones)