Biden announces air drops of food and medicine in the Gaza Strip

Biden announces air drops of food and medicine in the Gaza Strip


The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced on Friday the upcoming aerial drops of food and medicine in the Gaza Strip and raised the possibility of opening a maritime corridor to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

"The aid flowing into Gaza is not enough. Innocent lives are at stake. Children's lives are at stake," said the president at the start of a meeting at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

During his announcement, however, Biden made a mistake and mentioned Ukraine when referring to Gaza.

"In the coming days, we will join our friends from Jordan and others to provide air drops of food and supplies for Ukraine. We will seek to open other routes to Ukraine, including the possibility of a maritime corridor to deliver large quantities of food," he said.

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The U.S. president promised that he will insist on Israel facilitating the entry of more trucks and opening new land routes for the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

"There should be hundreds of trucks, not just a few. I will not stand still. We are trying to do everything possible to get more assistance," he expressed.

Biden also said that he hopes an agreement will be reached soon for the release of the Hamas hostages and a six-week ceasefire in the Israeli offensive on Gaza, allowing aid to enter the entire Strip.

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In nearly five months of war, more than 30,200 people have died in the Gaza Strip, including the 115 Gazans who died on Thursday in a chaotic incident during the distribution of food in Gaza City, in which Israel admitted to opening fire but attributed the casualty figure to a crowd-induced stampede of hungry people rushing towards the trucks.