France starts airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A French Air Force A400M Atlas performs multiple airdrops at Yakima Training Center, Wash., during Exercise Mobility Guardian Aug. 5, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Dyer via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service - DVIDS)

PARIS  -  France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tonnes of humanitarian  aid to Gaza as it urged Israel to allow full access to the area which it said was slipping into famine.

"Faced with the absolute urgency, we have just conducted a food airdrop operation in Gaza. Thank you to our Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support, and to our military personnel for their commitment," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media platform X.

"Airdrops are not enough. Israel must open full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," he added.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier in the day had told broadcaster franceinfo that France was sending four flights carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian aid each to Gaza from Jordan.

A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted.

France participated six times in the European humanitarian airlift set up in mid-October 2023 by the European Union to Jordan and Egypt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, Macron's office said.

The European airlift enabled the organisation of more than 60 flights carrying over 3,350 tons of humanitarian cargo, with most of the donations in-kind transiting through Egypt and Jordan, according to Macron's office.

Part of this aid has still not entered Gaza due to a lack of agreement from the Israeli authorities, the president's office said.

 (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; additional reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Makini Brice // REUTERS)