The Netherlands will be dropping sixteen pallets of 1,000 kilos each over Gaza for two weeks starting Friday. The packages mainly contain water and food, such as rice, flour, and baby food. Sometimes, some medical supplies are also included.
At Eindhoven Airport, a Dutch military transport aircraft was prepared on Tuesday for departure to Jordan. Items needed to carry out the droppings, such as pallets and parachutes, were loaded.
The C-130 aircraft will depart on Wednesday morning and will conduct aid droppings over the Gaza Strip starting Friday. The content is supplied by a Jordanian aid organization. “They will take into account where the population needs it most,” says a detachment commander who will accompany the flight on Wednesday.
Besides the Netherlands, other countries are also carrying out food droppings over Gaza, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Spain, France, and Germany. Under the leadership of Jordan, the countries coordinate where to drop. Where exactly in these dropping zones that will be is not yet known. That depends on, among other things, the weather conditions. “All packages go out of the plane on a parachute. It has no steering, so we have to take the wind into account.”
There is criticism from international aid organizations about the airdrops because they are costly and dangerous. People in Gaza have been injured and killed before. “The operation is indeed not without risks,” says the commander. “That is why we take into account the weather, but also the location and the way we drop. The lower we fly, the more accurately we can put the load down.”
According to COGAT, the Israeli military agency dealing with Palestinian civil affairs, 110 pallets were dropped over Gaza on Tuesday. That brings the total to 785 so far.