Explainer: How will US airdrop aid to Gaza?
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An aerial view of a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft which can carry 40 pallets of aid and is being considered as one of the aircraft to be deployed for the upcoming Gaza airdrop.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The United States military will start carrying out airdrops of food and supplies into Gaza
How would an airdrop of aid work?
The US will use military aircraft to drop supplies over Gaza. While it is unclear which type of aircraft will be used, the C-17 and C-130 are best suited for the job. According to the US Air Force, a C-130 can hold 16 pallets, while a C-17 can carry 40.
Military personnel on the ground load supplies onto the pallets, which are then loaded onto planes and locked in place.
Once the aircraft is over the area where the supplies are needed, the lock holding them in place is released, and they sail to the ground with the help of a parachute attached to the pallet.
What are the risks?
While the military can look at weather patterns ahead of time, the wind plays a large role in ensuring that the pallets land where they should. Social media videos have shown some aid delivered by other countries ending up in the sea.
Gaza is densely populated, and officials say it will be difficult to ensure the aid reaches the people who need it and does not end up in some place that is unreachable.
“It is extremely difficult to do an airdrop in such a crowded environment as is Gaza,” US President Joe Biden’s top national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Officials also say that without US military presence on the ground, there is no guarantee the aid will not end up in the hands of Hamas.
What are some examples of past US airdrops?
Each year over Christmas, the US drops humanitarian aid to remote islands in the Pacific Ocean in an effort known as Operation Christmas Drop.
In 2014, the US military airdropped aid in northern Iraq, when civilians were trapped by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters. In those few months, more than 100,000 meals and 96,000 water bottles were airdropped.
What options are being looked at?
On March 1, Mr Biden told reporters that the US was also looking at the possibility of a maritime corridor to deliver large amounts of aid into Gaza.
A US official said one possible option is shipping aid by sea from Cyprus, 210 nautical miles off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
No decision has been made on military involvement in such an operation, said the official, adding the Israelis were “very receptive” to the sealift option because it would avoid delays from protesters blocking land crossings to aid convoys.
But the reality is that the maritime option using the military is highly challenging, with no clear location where the aid could be unloaded from ships. REUTERS
