IDF Drops 80 Aid Packages on Gaza Strip With Belgium and Germany

The IDF released the following statement today (Thursday) regarding an air drop into the Gaza Strip:

"Today (Thursday), in accordance with the directives from the political echelon, and as part of the cooperation between Israel, the UAE, Jordan, Germany, Belgium and Canada, the IDF, led by COGAT, is continuing the series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.

"Over the past few hours, over 80 aid packages, containing food for the residents of the Gaza Strip, were airdropped by five different countries.

"The IDF will 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 question of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip continues to be a vexed one, as the United Nations' own data shows nearly 90% of aid trucks being taken into the Strip are looted or resold rather than being handed out for free, leaving large amounts of Gazans, especially women, children, and elderly to fend for themselves. IDF offers to accompany or secure aid truck convoys have all been rebuffed.

As the cabinet discusses the possibility of fully occupying the Gaza Strip, the question of how to deliver aid effectively to the population looms large. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said that the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which operates independently of the UN and other NGOs, could be expanded from 4 aid stations to as many as 16, depending on available staffing and funding.

The government's options as they currently stand are either a slow siege of remaining Hamas forces, whittling them down with targeted raids, or another slow, massive operation aimed at destroying all of Hamas' remaining power in the Gaza Strip.