The British and Dutch governments have deployed their air forces to the Middle East to supply humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. The initiative is a response to the ongoing conflict triggered by Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last year. Under the UK Royal Air Force operation, an A400M Atlas cargo aircraft was deployed to deliver 10 tons (10,000 kilograms) of “life-saving assistance” to the region, including water, rice, canned goods, flour, cooking oil, and baby formula. The transport departed Amman in Jordan to deliver the packages along Gaza’s northern coastline. It also surveyed the drop zones before and during the activity to secure deliveries to the people.
The British government collaborated with the Royal Jordanian Air Force for this mission. Meanwhile, the Royal Netherlands Air Force flew a C-130 Hercules, another transport aircraft, for the same purpose. The Dutch government said the packages incorporated food supplies specially weighed to “minimize risks” during the delivery. The country also worked with Jordanian authorities to map out airdrop locations in Gaza.
Simultaneously, the UK pledged an additional 10 million pounds ($12.6 million) in assistance to support UN agencies distributing aid on the ground across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “The UK has already tripled our aid budget to Gaza, but we want to go further in order to reduce human suffering,” UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps stated. “The hell that was unleashed by the October 7th Hamas attack has led to wide-scale innocent loss of life. The UK’s goal is to use every route possible to deliver life-saving aid, whether that is by road, air or new routes via the sea.” “We also continue to call on Israel to provide port access and open more land crossings in order to increase incoming aid deliveries to Gaza.”
Alongside the UK and the Netherlands, other allied nations are facilitating humanitarian aid missions for Gaza through Jordan. The US, the UAE, Egypt, and France completed their latest deliveries to the city in March. The same month, the Singaporean government conducted its first airdrop in the region, bringing food and other essential materials to civilians.
