Spain said it had airlifted 12 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where UN-backed experts warn that the Israeli blockade is causing widespread starvation.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the mission used 24 parachutes, each carrying 500 kilograms of food, providing aid to approximately 11,000 people.
“The inflicted hunger that the people of Gaza are suffering is a shame for all of humanity,” Albares said in a video message posted on social network X, along with footage of the aid being dumped. He added that Spain has additional aid ready to enter Gaza by land from Egypt.
Albares called on Israel to permanently open all land crossings so that humanitarian aid could enter in large quantities.
The Israeli military recently allowed foreign countries to conduct airlifts of aid to Gaza. However, such operations have previously resulted in aid packages falling on civilians, causing deaths, or falling into the sea, leaving desperate residents risking their lives trying to retrieve them. The method has often been criticized as ineffective compared to ground deliveries.
Last week, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that a third of Gaza’s population had been without access to food for days due to the Israeli siege. According to its figures, one in four Palestinians in Gaza are facing famine-like conditions, and more than 100,000 women and children are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Israel has completely closed all border crossings since March 2, severely restricting access to humanitarian aid, further worsening the already dire conditions. The Palestinian Authority says at least 600 aid trucks are needed a day to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel has been conducting a military offensive on Gaza, during which, according to local officials, more than 60,300 Palestinians have been killed. The bombing has caused widespread destruction and severe food shortages, bringing the territory to the brink of famine.
International pressure on Israel to allow unhindered humanitarian access is growing, as aid agencies warn of the catastrophic scale of the famine in Gaza.
