As the hunger-stricken people of southern Gaza were waiting for aid deliveries set to be airdropped by Jordan and France in the blockaded strip, three Jordanian C-130H Hercules transport aircraft and a French one made their way over Gaza and conducted several airdrops into Gaza's south in coordination with the Israeli air force bombing the strip.

Hundreds of thousands are awaiting daily aid as they sit on the brink of starvation due to the Israeli siege.

Jordanian forces made "four air drops carrying aid for the people of Gaza", under the directive of Jordanian King Abdullah II, a statement issued by the Jordanian army said.

Jordan has thus far carried out 16 airdrop operations since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October in coordination with the Israeli air force after the Israelis themselves blocked the entry of aid into the blockaded strip.

Previously announced airdrops, including a joint operation with the Netherlands, sent medical and other aid to the Jordanian field hospital in northern Gaza.

However, the operation that took place on Monday, which was "aimed at delivering aid to the population directly and drop it along the coast of the Gaza Strip from north to south," almost completely failed.

It comprised "relief and food supplies, including ready-made meals of high nutritional value, to alleviate the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip", the statement added.

However, interestingly enough, most of the supply drops were swimming with the fish before they made it to the hands of the people of Gaza as they were dropped straight into the Mediterranean Sea instead of on the coast of southern Gaza.

في عملية استعراضية تم إنزال المواد للغذائية في مدينة رفح جنوب غزة بدلاً من تنفيذه في شمال غزة كما أبلغوا الوسطاء.
المساعدات أتلفت بشكل كامل لأنها سقطت في البحر ! pic.twitter.com/dbdOxwoCgZ

— بلال نزار ريان (@BelalNezar) February 26, 2024

Criticism befell Jordan over its aid delivery as the goods it airdropped were extensively damaged by the water and still, the people of Gaza, with nothing else to eat, swam into the sea to retrieve the aid because of the lack of a better alternative.

Jordan's supplies included dates, flour, rice, and meat, all of which were rendered inedible due to the water. However, there were MREs (military-dispatched Meals Ready to Eat) that were unaffected.

في مشاهد للتاريخ والله
المساعدات الاردنية الفرنسية سقطت أو رميت في البحر…والأسماك ترقص فرحاً ...#ملك_البندورة pic.twitter.com/kzdqaQeVxi

— ramia al ibrahim - راميا الابراهيم (@ramiaalibrahim) February 26, 2024

The airdropping also received criticism because it did not involve northern Gaza, which is completely blockaded and where starvation is affecting hundreds of thousands.

The cargo, which floated down via parachutes, was not dropped using any sort of GPS technology and was scant compared to the amount of people in dire need in southern Gaza.

Hunger afflicting Gaza

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that the Gaza Strip's population is experiencing "unprecedented levels of near famine-like conditions" due to the prolonged Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Approximately 550,000 people are now at risk of catastrophic food insecurity, and the entire population is in a state of crisis, it added.

"There are unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity, hunger, and near famine-like conditions in Gaza," FAO Deputy Director General Beth Bechdol said in an interview published by the Rome-based agency.

"We are seeing more and more people essentially on the brink of and moving into famine-like conditions every day," she added.

Every one of the 2.2 million individuals in Gaza falls within the top three hunger categories, ranging from level three, classified as an emergency, to level five, labeled as a catastrophe, according to the statement.
 
It is worth noting that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) measures hunger levels on a scale from one to five.

"At this stage, probably about 25 percent of that 2.2 million are in that top-level IPC five category," Bechdol said.

Before the ongoing Israeli aggression, the people of Gaza had "a self-sustaining fruit and vegetable production sector, populated with greenhouses, while there was also a robust backyard small-scale livestock production sector," Bechdol said.

"We've recognized from our damage assessments that most of these animal inventories, but also the infrastructure that is needed for that kind of specialty crop production, are virtually destroyed," she stressed.