The US military on March 2 carried out its first airdrop of aid into Gaza, after the deaths of Palestinians queuing for food underlined the growing humanitarian catastrophe in the crowded coastal enclave after months of Israeli military operations.
Other countries including Jordan and France have already conducted airdrops of aid into Gaza, where the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says a quarter of the population—576,000 people—are one step from famine.
Under pressure at home and abroad, the Biden administration is also considering shipping aid by sea from Cyprus, some 210 nautical miles off Gaza's coast, according to a US official. Some experts said being forced to resort to costly, inefficient airdrops was the latest demonstration of Washington's limited influence over Israel as it pursues its war with Hamas. Washington is arming Israel and considers it one of its closest allies in the region.
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