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US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he will order the US military to drop aid into Gaza amid growing international concern over the expanding humanitarian disaster in the besieged enclave.
The President announced the move after at least 115 Palestinians were killed and about 760 injured as they waited to receive aid on Thursday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Witnesses said nearby Israeli troops opened fire at the crowds as they approached the aid lorries.
“In the coming days, we are going to join with our friends from Jordan and others to provide air drops of supplies into [Gaza] and seek to open up other avenues into [Gaza], including the possibility of a marine corridor delivering large amounts of humanitarian assistance,” Mr Biden said during remarks in the Oval Office, before a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The announcement comes nearly five months into an Israeli military campaign in the enclave which, according to local officials, has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians and reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble.
It also comes amid growing international concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where only a trickle of aid coming in has pushed hundreds of thousands of people close to starvation.
Reports have emerged that people have resorted to eating animal feed, and that children were dying of hunger.
At least 576,000 people in Gaza are one step away from famine, the UN said in a recent report.
The situation has been even worse in the north of Gaza, where aid has not arrived in weeks.
Mr Biden called Thursday's events “tragic and alarming”.
“The loss of life is heartbreaking,” Mr Biden said. “People are so desperate that innocent people got caught in a terrible war unable to feed their families and you saw the response when they tried to get aid in.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US is planning several airdrops in co-ordination with Jordan, and that Thursday's events underscored the need to find alternative routes of getting humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza.
“We will learn from the first airdrops and this will be a part of a sustained effort,” Mr Kirby told reporters during a briefing.
“This isn't going to be one and done, there will be additional airdrops planned and executed.
“We're also going to redouble our efforts to open up a humanitarian maritime corridor for the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”
Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, the day Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,140, according to officials.
The Biden administration has supported Israel's right to retaliate against Hamas in Gaza, but has been increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with the delay in getting humanitarian aid into the enclave – and over the dire consequences that have ensued.
“In addition to expanding deliveries by land, we're going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses, because the truth is aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now – it's nowhere nearly enough,” Mr Biden said.
“Innocent lives are on the line and children's lives are on the line.”
Earlier this week, Mr Biden said he was optimistic that a ceasefire deal could be reached by Monday.
On Friday, he said that the US is still trying to work on a deal that would last at least six weeks during which hostages held by Hamas could be released and aid could be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip.
Latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures
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Displaced Palestinians hold a white flag as they pass an Israeli tank position while fleeing the Hamad Town district of Khan Younis. Bloomberg -
A Palestinian woman cuts material to be used for sewing nappies at a workshop in Rafah. AFP -
Smoke rises following an explosion in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel. AP -
Parachutes carrying relief for Palestinians drop from an Egyptian Air Force cargo plane over central Gaza. Bloomberg -
A Palestinian boy who is suffering from malnutrition is treated at a healthcare centre amid widespread hunger. Reuters -
Palestinian children attend an English class in the library of the school housing displaced people in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
An UNRWA-run school housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah. AFP -
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of a residential building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah. AP -
A wounded Palestinian man who lost his wife and daughter walks past a neighbours' house destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah. AFP -
An injured man is rescued from the rubble after an Israeli air strike on the Rafah camp in Gaza. EPA -
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of houses destroyed by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza city. AFP -
Aid is dropped into Gaza from US military aircraft. Reuters -
Palestinians gather at air lorries in Gaza. More than 100 were killed when Israeli troops opened fire. AP -
The sun sets behind destroyed buildings in Gaza. AFP -
A Palestinian man enters a heavily damaged house following an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
A wounded Palestinian is assisted at the site of an Israeli strike in Deir Al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Palestinians gather in the hope of getting bags of flour carried by air lorries near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza city, as the enclave's residents face crisis levels of hunger. Reuters -
Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza. Reuters -
A displaced Palestinian child holds a crying baby in a camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
