ROME: Italy said it would begin airdrops over Gaza, which UN-backed experts say is slipping into famine, the latest European country to do so.
“I have given the green light to a mission involving Army and Air Force assets for the transport and airdrop of necessities to civilians in Gaza, who have been severely affected by the ongoing conflict,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement.
Italy’s air force will work with Jordan’s military to air drop special containers containing essential goods, he said.
The first drops could come on Aug. 9, he said.
Spain on Friday said it had airdropped 12 tonnes of food into Gaza, joining Britain and France, which have partnered with Middle Eastern nations to deliver sorely needed humanitarian supplies by air to the Palestinian enclave.
The mission deployed 24 parachutes, each capable of carrying 500 kg of food, for a total of 12 tonnes — enough for 11,000 people, said Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.
Spain also has aid waiting to cross into Gaza by road from Egypt, the minister added in a video message posted on social network X, along with a video of the operation.
“The induced famine that the people of Gaza are suffering is a disgrace to all of humanity,” Albares said.
“Israel must open all land crossings permanently so that humanitarian aid can enter on a massive scale.”
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops alone would not avert the worsening hunger.
“Airdrops are at least 100 times more costly than trucks. Trucks carry twice as much aid as planes,” he wrote on X.
Although Israel has in recent days allowed more aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, aid agencies say Israeli authorities could do much more to speed up border checks and open more border posts.
Concern has escalated in the past week about the situation in the Gaza Strip after more than 21 months of war.
