Israel to let foreign countries parachute aid into Gaza
Israeli officials said Jordan and the United Arab Emirates would conduct the airdrops. Jordan has agreed to begin as soon as possible. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, indicated that Britain was among other countries preparing to join the effort.
The move is an outward sign that Israel is bowing to international pressure over graphic images of Palestinian children suffering from starvation, as well as diplomatic pressure on Israel to agree a ceasefire in its war with Hamas. Aid agencies say scores of people, including children, have already died from malnutrition.
The aid drops would be co-ordinated with the Israeli military. Aid organisations said that Israel has relented in its controls on delivery inside Gaza, reducing the time its military takes to inspect UN convoys, leading to more lorries getting through since Wednesday.
Humanitarian organisations said that parachuting aid parcels, which began in early 2024, was ineffective and cannot replace land access.
Numerous Palestinians were killed by falling crates, in stampedes or drowned while trying to retrieve packages from the sea, before last year's attempts at dropping aid by air ended after several months.
In one case in March 2024, five Palestinians were reported to have been killed when a parachute on an aid package malfunctioned, sending it crashing onto them.
The UN estimates that Gaza requires between 500 and 600 trucks of food and essential supplies a day, a quantity that cannot adequately be supplied by parachute.
Since May, the Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also been distributing aid in the territory, but hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to obtain food from its collection sites.
The shift to distribution from specific sites, rather than directly to the safe zones and other locations where internally displaced Gazans are trying to survive, has led to chaotic scenes as people surge forward and rush at convoys.
Lammy, who is visiting Australia, said the British and Jordanian governments were working on options including the use of airdrops to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's population.
'When you ask about airdrops, we are discussing with partners in Jordan what more we can do to alleviate the pain and suffering that we're seeing in Gaza at this time,' Lammy said at a press conference in Sydney.
'The deteriorating situation we've seen in Gaza over the last few weeks is indefensible,' he added. 'The sight of children reaching for aid and losing their lives has caused consternation over much of the world, and that is why I repeat my call today for a ceasefire, a ceasefire that can see hostages released who have now been kept for so long away from their families and loved ones, and a ceasefire that would alleviate the suffering we're seeing in Gaza.'
Hopes for a ceasefire receded on Thursday after Steve Witkoff, President Trump's envoy and one of the key mediators, pulled out of talks to agree a deal and lambasted Hamas for what he called its failure to act in good faith.
Both Israel and Hamas say they are ready for a ceasefire but reject each other's terms. Hamas is said to be demanding the release of 'high-value' prisoners in exchange for some or all of the remaining living Israeli hostages, including some who took part in the attacks of October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Israel also wants to keep the right to return to fighting after 60 days in the absence of a permanent peace deal, which Hamas has rejected.
Israel also withdrew its negotiators from Qatar, where the talks have been taking place, for further consultations. Qatar and Egypt are the mediators talking to the Hamas side, and they insist that talks will continue.
Trump said that Hamas were running out of 'bargaining chips'. Before he left for his trip to Scotland, he said: 'Now we're down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn't want to make a deal.'
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