The United States has begun dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza by air, according to US Central Command.

The combined operation by the US Air Force and the Royal Jordanian Air Force saw three US C-130 transport planes drop 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline on Saturday, CENTCOM said in a statement.

There was no water or medical supplies.

US President Joe Biden announced the move Friday, saying more aid is desperately needed in the enclave, and that Israel must also allow for more trucks and routes for aid in Gaza.

Officials from several aid agencies, including the International Crisis Group and Oxfam, criticized the US plan as ineffective.

“Humanitarian workers always complain that airdrops are good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid,” the ICG's United Nations director, Richard Gowan, said on X.

Oxfam's Scott Paul wrote that the aid drops only "serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials," who should instead cut military aid to Israel and push for an immediate ceasefire. CNN has documented how US ally Israel obstructs the bulk of aid deliveries to the enclave.

More deadly Israeli strikes:

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp next to a maternity hospital in Rafah killed at least 11 Palestinians, including medical staff, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

More Israeli airstrikes elsewhere on Saturday killed at least 17 civilians and injured dozens of others, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The airstrikes targeted three houses in the central city of Deir al-Balah and furthern north in Jabalya, WAFA added.

Other developments on the ground: The Israeli military announced plans Saturday to temporarily suspend "military activities" in parts of Rafah and Deir al-Balah for several hours at a time over the course of several days until March 7 for "humanitarian purposes."

Ceasefire deal: Ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire agreement to halt the fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza by Ramadan appear to still be on track.

US officials on Friday said there are no indications that the discussions had been significantly derailed but much hinges on an expected Hamas response to what has been discussed in Paris and Doha in the past week between the other countries involved: Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the US.

On Thursday, a Hamas official warned the negotiations could be impacted.

Gaza food aid tragedy:

Many of the Palestinian civilians injured during the carnage at a food aid convoy on Thursday suffered gunshot wounds, according to a UN team that visited the hospital where survivors were taken.

At least 118 people were killed and 760 injured when Israel Defense Forces troops opened fire on starving Palestinian civilians who were gathering around food aid trucks, according to eyewitnesses and the health ministry in Gaza.

The IDF has denied that account, saying it fired warning shots to disperse a crowd.

The UN has said an independent investigation is required to establish the facts, and nations such as France have backed that appeal.

Humanitarian crisis:

UN Women, a United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, called the war in Gaza "also a war on women" in a statement Friday.

The organization estimates 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. And at least 10 Palestinian children have starved to death in Gaza, the UN reported on Friday, after a senior United Nations official warned Israel's severe restrictions on aid entering the strip are creating a "man-made famine."

After first US airdrop, Biden says amount of aid flowing into Gaza is not enough

US President Joe Biden vowed Saturday to help more aid reach Gaza after the first US humanitarian airdrops into the strip. 

“The amount of aid flowing to Gaza is not nearly enough and we will continue to pull out every stop we can to get more aid in,” Biden said Saturday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The statement echoes comments the president made on Friday, when he said the US will "insist" that Israel allow more trucks and routes to be added so more aid can be delivered to the people of Gaza.

Remember: United Nations agencies this week warned of an imminent risk of famine for half a million people in Gaza, and aid groups have criticized US plans to drop food aid into the enclave as ineffective.

Aid workers and government officials say Israel has engaged in a clear pattern of obstructing humanitarian efforts in the enclave.

US has seen civilians approach and distribute airdropped aid in Gaza, according to official:

The US is monitoring the location where aid was airdropped into Gaza earlier Saturday, and officials have seen civilians approach the aid, according to a senior official in President Joe Biden's administration.

The official also said the US has seen the civilians distribute the aid among themselves.

Another senior administration official told reporters that the specific site in Gaza was chosen for Saturday’s drops because they believed that people were sheltering nearby and "in need."

US Central Command said in a statement Saturday that the combined operation by the US and Royal Jordanian Air Force saw US C-130 aircraft dropping 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline.

There were 66 total bundles dropped – 22 from each of the three aircraft — a US official said. There was no water or medical supplies in the bundles. 

Another senior administration official said the US and Jordanian forces were not coordinating with any group on the ground. 

US is planning more Gaza airdrops in the coming days after first one was "successful," White House says:

A White House official described its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza as "successful."

"(It) is an important test case to show that we can do this again in the coming days and weeks successfully," said a senior administration official during a call with reporters on Saturday. 

The official added that the Defense Department is planning on conducting additional airdrops in Gaza in the days ahead.

The official said they could not provide any further details at this time about what the additional airdrops would entail.

For context: Aid agencies have criticized US plans to drop food aid into Gaza as ineffective, as the United Nations warns hundreds of thousands in the enclave are on the brink of famine and US ally Israel continues to obstruct the bulk of aid deliveries.

Some humanitarian officials have labeled it "a Band-Aid measure" and said the aid drops "mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials."

Source | CNN