Canada plans airborne humanitarian aid to Gaza

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said on Thursday they are working to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by air “as soon as possible.”

Olivia Batten, a spokeswoman of the ministry, stressed that “no airlifts would happen using Canadian military aircraft,” Toronto-based CTV news reported.

Hussen said on Wednesday that Ottawa was exploring new ways to deliver aid to the besieged Palestinian territory amid the Israel-Hamas war.

He mentioned that "airdrops of aid into Gaza, in partnership with countries like Jordan," were being considered.

Earlier, Hussen stressed that “the provision of aid to Palestinian civilians is nowhere near what's needed.”

He said a “tedious” inspection process at the Rafah border was delaying the movement of supplies brought in by truck.

The 30 million Canadian dollars ($22.1 million) announced in January, combined with the aid Canada has been providing to the besieged region since Oct. 7, 2023, is expected to reach 100 million Canadian dollars ($73.6 million).

Earlier, it was announced that Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan had delivered humanitarian aid by air to the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, which Israel had forcibly left hungry and thirsty, on Feb. 27.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.