Belgium is preparing new aerial humanitarian drops in Gaza. This was confirmed on Saturday the Minister of Defense Theo Francken (N-VA) to our colleagues from VTM Nieuws. “We have been ready to do it again for weeks since Jordan,” said Theo Francken. We work there. The humanitarian situation is disastrous. We have to help. As soon as Jordan and Israel give their green light, it will happen ”.
Indeed, Israel again authorizes other countries to drop aid by plane in the besieged Gaza Strip, where famine is raging. Belgium is in contact with the Jordanian authorities to implement these operations, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, Maxime Prévot, on X.
Terrestrial aid remains privileged
An Israeli official said on Friday, on condition of anonymity on Friday, that humanitarian aid drops were going to quickly resume in the Gaza Strip under the coordination of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Belgium was prudent in this regard, awaiting confirmation of the information. It believes that the normal and privileged route to transport humanitarian aid remains land access to this territory.
“Despite our formal requests to Israel for unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, above all terrestrial but also aerial and maritime, blockages persist. It seems that Jordan was authorized to take up the humanitarian lagages. We are in contact with the Jordanian authorities to materialize our proposal, if this opening by Israel was confirmed. But we cannot now hide our skepticism on this aerial option in view of the security risks (risk of causing riots or that the dropped packages crash into children …) since Israel forced the displacement of populations to limited areas. The airway cannot therefore be a screen for the urgency to promote land access which remains absolute priority for Belgian aid to reach Gaza, “said Prévot.
In March 2024, Airbus A400M of the air force had already participated in operations of dropping humanitarian aid. Over 80 tonnes of food and humanitarian material had been parachuted by Belgian devices. On May 20, the federal government reopened this track as part of a broader position on the conflict, the fruit of a political compromise. He had notably responsible the competent departments to explore “the various possibilities of additional humanitarian aid, including the possibility of an evacuation operation of Gaza of sick or injured children (…) and that of a new aerial release operation of humanitarian aid in Gaza”.
