US President Joe Biden has announced that the US will start dropping aid into Gaza, a day after dozens were killed in a desperate scramble for supplies.
“We need to do more and the United States will do more,” Mr Biden said on Friday as he unveiled the US plan.
The decision comes amid tense ceasefire negotiations, and as political pressure mounts for Mr Biden to help rein in Israel’s operation in Gaza.
Air drops have been slammed by aid groups as costly and inadequate.
“Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza,” the charity group said on Friday.
“While Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the absolute brink, dropping a paltry, symbolic amount of aid into Gaza with no plan for its safe distribution would not help and be deeply degrading to Palestinians,” Oxfam said, adding that the US should instead work to “cut the flow of weapons to Israel”.
On Thursday, at least 112 Palestinians were killed and more than 760 injured as they crowded around aid lorries entering Gaza City.
“Innocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families. And you saw the response when they tried to get aid,” Mr Biden said on Friday.
“But we need to do more, and the United States will do more.” Hamas, which governs Gaza, accused Israel of firing at civilians, but Israel said most died in a stampede after it fired warning shots.
Roughly one quarter of Gaza’s population are currently at risk of famine as the humanitarian crisis sparked by the war continues to worsen, according to UN figures.
UN agency chief Philippe Lazzarini called the planned airdrop “a last-resort, extraordinarily expensive way of providing assistance”, saying it was not the answer to problems in Gaza.
“The real answer is: Open the crossings and bring convoys and medical assistance into the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters on Thursday.
White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said that the US will continue to work toward bringing aid to Gaza by land and sea, as well, and that it has not stopped pressing for a ceasefire.
The US announcement comes one day after Jordanian air force pilots dropped 33 tonnes of medical supplies and food into Gaza.
According to the Washington Post, Jordanian planes have also dropped aid provided by the US and the UK, while planes from France, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have also participated in similar operations.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others – after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages
