France and Jordan this week jointly airdropped seven tonnes of aid to civilians and aid workers in Gaza, as Israel continued to conduct air strikes against the militant group Hamas in the area. The United Nations says that the Palestinian territory has now been rendered "uninhabitable".
"In a difficult context, France and Jordan delivered aid by air to the population and those aiding them," President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"The humanitarian situation remains critical in Gaza" after three months of conflict, he added.
Macron's office said the "extremely complex operation" took place late Thursday, saying it had been made possible by close ties between the French and Jordanian militaries.
Each nation sent a C-130 transport plane with mixed French-Jordanian crews, bringing a total of seven tonnes of "humanitarian and health" aid, the presidency said.
The supplies dropped by France and Jordan were equipped with systems that remotely guided them to a Jordanian field hospital operating in the territory, the French presidency said.
La situation humanitaire reste critique à Gaza. Dans un contexte difficile, la France et la Jordanie ont livré par les airs de l’aide à la population et à ceux qui lui portent secours. pic.twitter.com/jNXGiZieCh
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 5, 2024
Reduced to rubble
The fighting, triggered by the 7 October attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants, has sent tensions soaring across the region, and shows no signs of abating as the conflict slides into its fourth month on Sunday.
Civilians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip have born the brunt of the violence, with much of the territory already reduced to rubble.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that "Gaza has simply become uninhabitable".
"Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on," he said in a statement.
At least 22,600 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
The UN estimates that 1.9 million Gazans – 85 percent of the pre-war population – have been displaced, with hundreds of thousands risking famine and most hospitals out of action.
There are serious shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding deliveries of humanitarian aid.
In Gaza, "a quarter of the population is (facing) catastrophic levels of hunger," World Food Programme chief economist Arif Husain told the New Yorker on Wednesday.
Strife on Lebanon border
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes early Saturday hit the southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter from the fighting, according to journalists from French agency AFP.
On Israel's northern border, Lebanon's Hezbollah group said it launched on Saturday its "initial response" to the killing of Hamas's deputy chief in Beirut, which a US defence official has told AFP was carried out by Israel.
The Iran-backed group said it had targeted the Israeli military's Meron air control base with 62 missiles, while the Israeli army reported "approximately 40 launches from Lebanon" early Saturday, with sirens blaring in the Galilee region.
The Hamas-allied Lebanese movement has been trading near-daily fire with Israeli forces since early October and said the barrage was a response to Tuesday's killing of Saleh al-Arouri in a strike on a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital.
The army said it had responded with a strike on a Hezbollah "cell that took part in the launches".
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said late Friday that Israeli forces were maintaining a "very high state of readiness" along the border with Lebanon following Aruri's killing, which Israel has not claimed.
(with AFP)
