Ministry of Defense will again provide humanitarian aid to Gaza by air

In April, the defense sector will once again drop humanitarian aid over the Gaza Strip, which will consist of food aid. The drops will be carried out in cooperation with Jordan and other international partners and in consultation with Israel.

This was stated by the outgoing Ministers of Defense (Kajsa Ollongren), Foreign Affairs (Hanke Bruins Slot) and Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Geoffrey van Leeuwen) in a letter to the House of Representatives.

Kajsa Ollongren wrote on X that the only way to provide humanitarian aid is by air. "As the necessary volumes cannot be achieved by air, increasing access to humanitarian aid by land remains vital."

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a new low", the ministers wrote to Parliament. Around 1.1 million people in Gaza are at risk of famine by mid-July. "Children are particularly at risk. The provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, for which Israel's full cooperation is an important prerequisite, is far from sufficient. Distribution within the Gaza Strip itself is also far from adequate.

Expanding and accelerating access by land, including the opening of several border crossings, remains "the most effective way to deliver the required amount of aid to Gaza", according to the ministers. The Cabinet called on Israel at many levels to immediately ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access by land.

Under the coordination of Jordan, the Netherlands carries out the airdrops together with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Belgium, France, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom. This international coalition delivers food parcels on a large scale every day.

The Netherlands carries out the airdrops with a C-130 transport aircraft.