ATHENS: Greece on Saturday joined EU countries in dropping food aid over Gaza, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
“This morning, two aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force dropped 8.5 tons of essential food supplies in areas of Gaza,” Mitsotakis said on Facebook.
“The operation was organized in collaboration with countries from the European Union and the Middle East, aiming to support the basic needs of people in the afflicted region.”
“Greece will continue to undertake initiatives for the immediate cessation of hostilities, the release of hostages, and the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. It is the duty of all of us to put an end to human suffering immediately,” he said.
Western countries including Britain, France, and Spain have recently partnered with Middle Eastern nations to deliver humanitarian supplies by air to the Palestinian enclave.
But the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini has warned that airdrops alone would not avert the worsening hunger.
The UN estimates that Gaza needs at least 600 trucks of aid per day to meet residents’ basic needs.
Concern has escalated about the situation in the Gaza Strip after more than 21 months of war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack against Israel in October 2023.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to secure a ceasefire to bring the territory’s more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.
But early Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans to launch major operations to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of outrage across the globe.
Greece air-drops food aid over Gaza
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Greece air-drops food aid over Gaza
- Greek PM says air force dropped 8.5 tons of food supplies in the territory
Israel spied on US forces at Gaza aid base: Sources
- US commander summoned Israeli counterpart to say: ‘Recording has to stop here’
- Staff, visitors from other partner countries have also raised concerns about Israeli surveillance
LONDON: Israel conducted widespread surveillance of US forces involved in an aid mechanism for Gaza, The Guardian reported.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel was launched in October as a joint body to monitor the ceasefire and oversee the entry of aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
But sources with knowledge of internal disputes told The Guardian that open and covert recordings of meetings at the CMCC had prompted disputes between the two partners.
Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, the US commander of the center, summoned his Israeli counterpart to explain that “recording has to stop here.”
Other countries, including the UK and UAE, are also involved in the CMCC. Staff and visitors from partner countries have likewise raised concerns about Israeli surveillance activities at the center.
When the CMCC began operations, media in the US and Israel reported that the latter was handing over authority to American forces.
Yet Israel still retains effective control over what enters the territory despite Washington’s considerable leverage, according to one US official.
US forces who arrived at the CMCC, including logistics experts, were keen to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
But they soon discovered that Israel had implemented a wide range of controls on purported “dual-use” goods, creating a larger impediment than any engineering challenge relating to aid delivery. These included basic goods such as tent poles and chemicals used for water purification.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel has said he was briefed at the center on “one of the dual-use barriers that was being lifted as a result of the conversations (there).”
It came in response to growing awareness that Israeli restrictions on deliveries stood as the biggest barrier to the entry of aid into Gaza.
Israeli authorities had also restricted basic items such as pencils and paper — required by Palestinian students for school — without explanation.
There is widespread hesitancy among aid organizations and diplomats over joining the CMCC’s efforts, despite being invited to do so.
The center lacks any Palestinian representation, and even US efforts to schedule video calls with Palestinian officials were vetoed by Israeli staff there.
