CAIRO: The US and Jordan carried out a new airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s Palestinians on Sunday, parachuting in more than 11,500 meals, the US military said.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza, which is supported by the US, has displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people and led to critical shortages of food, water and medicine. The US military’s Central Command said that the latest airdrop took place over northern Gaza and included rice, flour, pasta, and canned food.
The US has dropped about 135,000 meals in airdrops this month, according to Pentagon data.
US President Joe Biden has also ordered the U.S. military to build a temporary port system to bring aid into Gaza by sea.
The Pentagon said on Friday it could take up to 60 days to be up and running, a timeline that aid groups say is too long given the imminent risk of famine. Also on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources said Egypt was in contact with senior Hamas and Israeli figures as well as other mediators to restart negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan.
Egypt’s contacts with Hamas and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad on Sunday were carried out under a mandate from the Egyptian presidency to bring the two sides’ divergent positions together, the sources said, without providing further details. Qatar, Egypt and the US have been trying to negotiate a deal for a ceasefire during Ramadan in return for the release of Israel hostages captured in the attack that Hamas carried out on Oct. 7, sparking the war in Gaza.
The latest round of talks, not attended by Israel, broke up in Cairo this week.
Israel’s Mossad said on Saturday that efforts to secure a deal were ongoing despite dimming hopes for securing a truce before Ramadan starts.
