U.S. Air Force and Royal Jordanian Air Force personnel worked together to drop bundles of ready-to-eat halal meals along the Gaza coastline to allow for civilian access, Central Command said. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and France have also carried out aerial aid deliveries in recent days.
Centcom said it was “conducting planning for potential follow-on airborne aid delivery missions,” as U.S. officials said they were planning additional airdrops into Gaza and exploring new ways to get desperately needed assistance into the Hamas-controlled enclave, including by sea.
The number of trucks carrying desperately needed food and essential items into Gaza has plunged in recent weeks following Israeli airstrikes that have targeted police officers who guard the convoys. Aid groups such as the World Food Program have also suspended deliveries to the north, where the need is greatest, citing lack of security.
Last week, at least 118 people were killed and 760 injured, the Gaza Health Ministry said, when a crowd converged on an aid convoy. Palestinian officials, eyewitnesses and doctors said Israeli troops fired on the crowd, leading to the carnage, while the Israel Defense Forces blamed the deaths on a stampede and said its forces had fired only warning shots that were not directed at the convoy.
Meanwhile, talks on a cease-fire proposal are ongoing. There is “a deal on the table” that Israel has “more or less accepted” and is awaiting a response from Hamas, a State Department official said in a briefing to journalists, under the condition of anonymity set by the State Department. The proposal calls for increased aid deliveries on the ground and a six-week pause in fighting, during which sick, wounded, female and elderly hostages still inside Gaza would be released. U.S. officials hope a cease-fire can begin before the holy month of Ramadan, which is set to start around March 10.
Here’s what else to know
Vice President Harris will meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz at the White House on Monday. The meeting is part of broader efforts by the Biden administration to speak with a range of Israeli officials and plan for the “day after” the war, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an event that has not been publicly announced.
Eleven people, including a medical worker, were killed and about 50 people injured in an Israeli strike in an area that held tents for displaced people near Rafah’s Emirati maternity hospital on Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a post on social media. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike to the The Post, saying it had targeted “terrorists and terror infrastructure.”
Italy’s Defense Ministry said its naval ship Duilio shot down an approaching drone in the Red Sea. The drone was less than four miles away and had characteristics similar to those used in previous attacks, the Saturday statement said. “The Houthi terrorist attacks are a serious violation of international law and an attack on the safety of maritime traffic,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.
At least 30,410 people have been killed and 71,700 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 245 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
Missy Ryan, Karen DeYoung, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
