Jordanian army carries out over 100 airdrops of aid into Gaza alone, 257 in cooperation with other countries — JAF

AMMAN — As per its efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, the army, under directives from His Majesty King Abdullah, has carried out hundreds of airdrops of aid into the war-torn Strip.

Globally recognised as a breakthrough on the course of action on Gaza, the airdrops of aid Jordan initiated were joined by several countries, including Egypt, the US, the UK, the UAE, Germany, France and Qatar, among others.

The Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) has carried out a total of 358 airdrops of aid into Gaza since the outbreak of Israeli war on the Strip, including 257 airdrops executed jointly with other countries.

On February 28, His Majesty, the Supreme Commander of JAF, participated in the airdrop operations conducted by Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) aircraft to deliver food and relief aid to Gazans.

JAF said in a statement at the time that His Majesty’s participation reaffirms Jordan’s continued solidarity with the Palestinian people by providing aid through all available means to Gaza.

During a meeting with notables from the southern governorate of Maan, the King said that the idea of carrying out aid airdrops into Gaza came to his mind when he flew over the Strip on the way back to Amman from Germany.

HRH Princess Salma, who holds the rank of first lieutenant/pilot at the RJAF, accompanied the personnel of the aircraft of the fifth airdrop, which was dispatched upon Royal directives on December 14 last year.

Before the airdrops of aid became routine operations Jordan now carries out alone or jointly with other countries, JAF airdropped critical medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza at the height of the Israeli bombardment of the Strip.

The operation was carried out in early November last year when a Royal Air Force plane dropped urgent medical aid using parachutes to the Jordanian hospital in Gaza after it was reportedly about to run out of supplies due to the delay in delivering aid through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Also upon Royal Directives, JAF on Christmas Eve on December 24 executed the seventh airdrop of aid to assist those besieged within the Church of Saint Porphyrius in the north of the Gaza Strip, which was reported targeted by an Israeli air strike on October 20.

JAf said at the time that the airdrop was a demonstration of solidarity with the Christian community amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

The army said that a Royal Air Force plane airdropped humanitarian aid and food supplies, aiming to alleviate the conditions of those trapped inside the church, recognised as one of the oldest churches globally, which housed some 800 civilians, primarily Christians.

Videos of Gazans receiving with applaud Jordanian assistance airdropped by RJAF C-130s into their besieged strip have gone viral on social media.

But that video of a Palestinian boy looking over the smoky skies of Gaza when military planes were dropping aid into the strip remains the most famous one.

In that video, the Palestinian boy was videotaping planes dropping with parachutes aid packages into Gaza and telling a woman next to him, “Look at the Jordanian planes.” Asked by the woman, who was unseen in the video, “How do you know they are Jordanians?” he said, “Only Jordanians do it. May God bless them?”

Besides airdrops of aid directly from Jordan to Gaza, the Kingdom has dispatched 53 cargo planes through Egypt’s Al Arish airport, including 13 through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and 40 in partnership with international relief organisations.