President Joe Biden on Friday said the U.S. would carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days.
Speaking in an Oval Office meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he referred to what he called the “tragic and alarming event” in North Gaza on Thursday in which more than 100 people died as they rushed food aid trucks and Israeli forces guarding the trucks opened fire.
“The loss of life is heartbreaking. People are so desperate that innocent people got caught in a terrible war unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid in,” he said. “And we need to do more in the United States, will do more. In the coming days, we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops …” but he mentioned Ukraine instead of Gaza.
President Biden meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, , March 1, 2024, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
“In addition to expanding deliveries by land, as I said, we’re gonna — we’re gonna insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses because the truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough,” he said. “Now, it’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children’s lives on the line and we won’t stand by and let — until they — until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several.
“I won’t stand by and we won’t let up,” he said.
“This is a tough military mission to do,” White House spokesman John Kirby said a briefing afterward.
He said the first ones would involve pallets of MREs — Meals Ready to Eat — and that the U.S. would work with international aid organizations on distribution.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Source Agencies
