Supplies airdropped into Gaza for fourth consecutive day, Israel says

Israel on Wednesday said aid supplies have been airdropped over the Gaza Strip for the fourth day in a row, amid widespread international concern over starvation in the coastal territory.

The deliveries comprised 32 pallets of food dropped by parachutes from Jordanian, Emirati and Egyptian aircraft over the past few hours, according to the Israeli military.

Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are coordinating their drops with the Israeli authorities.

In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Germany also wants to start dropping aid from the air, with two Bundeswehr transport aircraft already being dispatched to Jordan.

Other countries have announced that they will also start airdropping supplies.

Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on other countries to take part in the airdrops.

However, aid organizations consider this method to be ineffective and also expensive due to the relatively small quantities involved – compared to lorry transports, for example.

The pallets could also injure or kill the people waiting on the ground.

Aid organizations have spoken of airdrops being a symbolic gesture that serves their own image more than the approximately two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of whom are in need.