BRUSSELS: Belgium will take part in a multi-country operation coordinated by Jordan to airdrop aid to Gaza, the government announced Wednesday, as UN agencies warn the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine.
A Belgian plane carrying medical supplies and food worth some 600,000 euros ($690,000) will fly “soon” to Jordan, and will remain on stand-by to conduct air drops in coordination with Amman, the defense and foreign ministries said in a statement.
Belgium joins a string of Western nations including France, Spain and Britain looking to send aid into Gaza by air as fears mount of mass starvation in the territory.
“These airdrops are a first step, but they can in no way be a cover for the urgent need to facilitate access by land,” Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevot said.
“I will continue to plead with the Israeli authorities to allow these deliveries to enter Gaza by road as quickly as possible.”
The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization warned Tuesday that time was running out and that Gaza was “on the brink of a full-scale famine.”
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid rising fears of a wave of starvation.
Then on Sunday, faced with mounting international criticism, Israel began a series of “tactical pauses” while allowing aid trucks to pass through two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to conduct airdrops.
Deliveries have been ramped up, but the experts advising the UN said this effort would not prove enough unless aid agencies were granted “immediate, unimpeded” humanitarian access.