The situation of the people in the Gaza Strip is desperate. In the future, the Bundeswehr – like allied armed forces – also wants to drop relief supplies from the air.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has given the green light for the air force to drop urgently needed relief supplies over the Gaza Strip. The SPD politician gave a corresponding order to the Bundeswehr on Wednesday, as the German Press Agency in Berlin learned. The military had previously confirmed corresponding preparations in which Bundeswehr C-130 transport aircraft stationed in France could be used.
“The people in Gaza lack the most basic necessities. We want to do our part to ensure that they have access to food and medicine,” said Pistorius. For this purpose, the Bundeswehr is providing two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, each of which can transport up to 18 tons of load. And: “The truth is: the drop is not without danger. The crews designated for this purpose are trained in the relevant procedures and are very experienced.” Meanwhile, the Air Force inspector, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, issued a special permit for the dropping procedure.
With this operation, the Bundeswehr is taking part in the airlift for Gaza, which was initiated by Jordan. Other partners such as the USA and France are also taking part in the initiative. According to military information, the German part of the binational air transport squadron in Evreux, France, will take on the task. The operation could therefore begin at the end of the week.
Help also comes by sea
According to aid organizations, the situation of the people in the coastal strip is becoming increasingly desperate. According to the UN, there is a risk of a hunger crisis if aid deliveries by truck are not increased. Around 2.2 million people live in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which was carried out in Israel on October 7th by terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. On the Palestinian side, more than 31,100 people have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
The population in the Gaza Strip is now also being helped by sea. On Tuesday, the ship “Open Arms” belonging to the aid organization of the same name set sail from the Cypriot port of Larnaca towards the Gaza Strip. The converted tug pulls a platform onto which relief supplies have been loaded – around 200 tons of drinking water, medicine and food. The journey could take up to 60 hours as the ship moves slowly.
Desperate residents are fighting for relief supplies
However, according to a United Nations spokesman, sea shipments of aid to the Gaza Strip do not make up for the lack of urgently needed truck deliveries. Access is also needed by land, and safe and regular distribution in the Gaza Strip must be guaranteed, it said. The United Nations recently pushed for aid deliveries to be expanded by truck and for goods to also be transported via border crossings to the particularly affected north of the Palestinian territory.
On Tuesday evening it became known that an aid convoy with food reached the north of the Gaza Strip via a new Israeli military road. The military said it was a pilot project to prevent the aid supplies from falling into the hands of the Islamist Hamas. The results would now be presented to the government.
According to the UN, all order in the Gaza Strip has now collapsed due to the war. Trucks carrying relief supplies are repeatedly looted. In the fight for aid deliveries, there are also regular violent scuffles among desperate residents.
