IDF coordinates Gaza aid drops with 6 countries, including Italy and Greece

The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it had facilitated the airdrop of some 106 aid packages to Gaza with six countries. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said the coordinated humanitarian effort was conducted "in accordance with the directives from the political echelon, and as part of the cooperation between Israel, the UAE, Jordan, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Italy."

"Over the past few hours, more than 106 aid packages containing food for the residents of the Gaza Strip were airdropped by six different countries, including Greece and Italy, which participated in airdrop operations today for the first time since the operation began," the IDF announced.

The IDF further vowed to "continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza."

The Israeli military added that together with the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), it is "continuing the series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.”

The multinational air drop operation is part of the growing efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terrorist organization.

An increasing number of governments and international organizations have accused the Israel of deliberately starving the civilian population in Gaza. European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera recently blamed Israel for the alleged lack of food and water in Gaza.

“A concrete population is confined with no homes – being destroyed – no food, water or medicines – being forbidden to access – and subject to bombing and shooting even when they are trying to get humanitarian aid,” Ribera stated.

Israel has strongly rejected the charge of “genocide” and emphasized that Hamas and other local actors have been systematically stealing much of the humanitarian aid that enters the Gaza Strip. A recent UN report acknowledged that almost 90% of the Gaza aid deliveries had been looted or stolen before they reached their intended destination. Furthermore, Israel has emphasized that large quantities of humanitarian aid have been rotting in the sun because the United Nations has been unwilling or unable to distribute it in a timely manner.

The German news outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung recently revealed that some photos of alleged humanitarian suffering in Gaza were staged by a Hamas-linked photographer, which the paper argued was done “in favor of Hamas and its propaganda.”

With the exception of the United States, very few governments or international organizations have held Hamas accountable for the humanitarian crisis inside the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar recently criticized the international media’s “unfair” coverage of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas under very difficult living conditions.

“Hamas and [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad are using the starvation and torture of hostages as part of a deliberate and well-planned sadistic propaganda campaign,” Sa’ar said during a press conference in Jerusalem for international journalists.

“These organizations also planned the starvation campaign of lies together,” he added, a reference to the widespread accusation that Israel and not Hamas is starving the population in Gaza.

“The amount of aid entering proves that it is a fake propaganda campaign. We see the dire condition of our starved hostages, yet they still have not seen representatives of the Red Cross.”