‘Atrocious suffering’: France says Israel blocking 52 tonnes of aid into Gaza
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced Paris will airdrop 40 tonnes of aid into Gaza in close coordination with Jordan.
Barrot told the BFMTV television broadcaster France also has aid waiting to cross into Gaza by road that’s being blocked by Israel in northern Egypt.
“The air route is useful but it is not sufficient,” he said. “Fifty-two tonnes of French humanitarian freight are blocked in el-Arish”, an Egyptian city 50km (30 miles) from Gaza.
“It is therefore essential that the Israeli authorities finally agree to reopen land access to the Gaza Strip sufficiently so as to alleviate the atrocious suffering of its civilian populations,” Barrot added.
Amnesty condemns Israel’s ‘brutal system of apartheid’
In response to the UK government’s announcement to recognise Palestinian statehood, Amnesty International underscored the need for more urgent action over besieged Gaza.
“The UK government’s statement, while a shift in rhetoric, won’t stop the genocide alone. Robust and effective action is urgently needed, and today’s response fell short of that,” said Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty UK’s crisis response manager.
“This moment demands immediate, decisive action from countries like the UK to hold Israel accountable and impose concrete consequences for its ongoing violations”.
Benedict said impunity enables violence and without accountability the genocide in Gaza will continue. “Every second matters for Palestinians,” he said, urging the UK to sanction Israeli officials implicated in international crimes, halt arms exports, and end trade.
Israel’s occupation must end, Benedict added, calling it a “brutal system of apartheid”.
‘Suffering must end’: First UK aid airdropped into Gaza
The United Kingdom has carried out its first air drop of aid into Gaza as UN agencies warned the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said “the first air drops of British aid” are landing on Tuesday “containing around half a million pounds worth of lifesaving supplies”.
“The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering now in Gaza because of a catastrophic failure of aid. We see starving babies, children too weak to stand,” Starmer said in a televised address, adding “the suffering must end”.
You need about 900 flights a day to meet the needs of the people... It's symbolic, a drop in the ocean of (manufactured) need.
Plus you could drive in 30x the amount of aid for that half million pounds compared to air drops.
We went through this dog and pony show last year
https://www.csis.org/analysis/air-supplies-gaza-commendable-political-theater-no-long-term-solution
one truck equals 1.5 C-130s. Instead of 260 C-130 sorties or 90 C-17 sorties, 190 truck trips could move the same number of MREs.
Trucking costs are about $2.25 per mile, and the round trip from Cairo to Rafah is 430 miles. Therefore, one truck trip costs about $970, or $0.06 per meal.
C-130s cost about $8,000 per flight hour, and the round trip takes about four hours. Thus, one and a half C-130s delivering the same number of supplies as one truck costs $48,000, or $2.50 per meal—42 times as much as by truck.
And then Jordan takes the cake
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordan-profited-gaza-aid-airdrop-sources
In addition, Jordan has charged between $200,000 and $400,000 per airdrop over Gaza, the sources said. Around $200,000 was charged for each random drop, and $400,000 for targeted missions, despite each aircraft carrying the equivalent of less than half a truckload of aid.
