Spanish military aircraft delivered 26 tonnes of humanitarian aid yesterday to Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip, with Madrid urging Israel to open land border crossings to prevent famine, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The operation, conducted in collaboration with Jordan and supported financially by the European Union, involved the airdrop of over 11,000 food rations to address the “catastrophic levels of food insecurity” impacting up to 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, the Ministry said in a statement.

“Spain insists on the opening of the land crossings as an indispensable measure to avoid a famine situation,” it added.

Western nations such as the United States, France and Germany have also resorted to employing air drops as a means to deliver aid, aiming to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following nearly six months of conflict between Israeli forces and the Hamas group.

The airdrop comes days after at least 18 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip after an aid airdrop malfunctioned.

The fatalities included 12 people who drowned in the sea in the northern Gaza Strip and six in a stampede while gathering to obtain aid, the Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement.

“The aid airdrops pose a real threat to the lives of hungry Palestinians,” the statement warned. It said some aid fell into the sea, inside Israel or in war zones. “This all puts the lives of people in real danger,” the office added.

Currently, aid agencies say only about a fifth of needed supplies are entering Gaza as Israel persists with an air and ground offensive that has shattered the coastal enclave, pushing parts to the verge of famine.

They say that deliveries by air drop or by sea directly onto Gaza’s beaches are no substitute for increased supplies coming in by land via Israel or Egypt.

Israel says it puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and blames problems in it reaching civilians within the enclave on UN agencies which, it says, are inefficient. Aid groups blame Israel’s blockade and red tape.

Source: Middle East Monitor