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U.S. President Joe Biden touted the aircraft drop of thousands of meals into Gaza on Saturday, but emphasized that the aid going into the besieged enclave is “not nearly enough.”
Biden expressed support for the first of what he has promised will be a series of airdropped aid packages into Gaza in a Saturday afternoon post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Together with Jordan, the United States airdropped the first package of aid into Gaza today,” the president wrote. “The amount of aid flowing to Gaza is not nearly enough and we will continue to pull out every stop we can to get more aid in.”
The 38,000 meals were sent into Gaza just days after the United Nations raised the alarm, saying that nearly one quarter of Palestinians — 576,000 people — are a mere “one step away” from famine, and all 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have “woefully inadequate” food supplies.
The aid, which contained only meal pallets and did not include water or medical supplies, also arrived amid outcry over what many have dubbed the “flour massacre,” where over 100 Palestinians were killed as they rushed to get food from aid trucks Thursday. The Diplomatic Service of the European Union has since called for an investigation into what they called an “unjustifiable” event.
Democratic lawmakers came out in support of the U.S. aid drops on Saturday, but emphasized the need for a significant increase in assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called the aid drops “a great step forward,” but called for the addition of sea-to-shore aid deliveries “to achieve a volume proportional to the crisis.”
Similarly, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) told MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian that the airdrops, while “critically important,” are insufficient in the face of the growing need.
“These airdrops are so critically important,” Dean said. “But they cannot replace what is desperately needed, and what Mr. Netanyahu is responsible for delivering, and that is the hundreds of trucks of aid.”
Dean, who recently returned from a trip to Israel and the occupied West Bank, took it a step further, calling for a bilateral cease-fire (something neither Israel nor Hamas has been able to agree to since the end of November) and asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “come to the table.”
“It is unconscionable what is going on in Gaza. These people, the Palestinian people, they are trapped and desperate and Mr. Netanyahu and his coalition must fix this now,” Dean said. “That is why I have called this week for a bilateral cease-fire. The suffering has to end. The humanitarian aid needs to come in. The hostages must come home. Dead and alive, sadly. Mr. Netanyahu needs to come to the table and make that happen.”
According to an Associated Press report, Israel has agreed to a six-week cease-fire and hostage release agreement that would allow much-needed aid to flow into Gaza in time for Ramadan, but the deal awaits Hamas’ decision.
