Cairo [Egypt], March 17: Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson of the Egyptian foreign ministry, has said in a statement on Facebook that his country "appreciates and welcomes every effort aimed at alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip".
He thanked "all international and regional parties that contributed to facilitate the arrival of such aid across the maritime corridor".
Abu Zeid added that "Egypt continues to make all efforts to strengthen the delivery of urgent aid to the sector through the Rafah Crossing and through the air descent." He said Egypt is demanding "Israel to remove barriers and restrictions on the entry of aid through land ports, and calling on it to operate the rest of the crossings to bring in more aid to avoid the worsening of the humanitarian situation in Gaza".
Meanwhile, the US military has said it conducted a new airdrop of humanitarian aid over northern Gaza in cooperation with the Jordanian air force.
Sixteen 170kg (375-pound) bundles of rice, flour, milk, pasta and canned food were dropped from a C-130 military cargo plane, US Central Command said in a statement.
The heavily criticised airdrop plan will carry on as Israel continues to restrict much more effective humanitarian aid deliveries via land crossings. The airdrops provide only a fraction of what is needed for hundreds of thousands of Gaza people facing famine.
Source: Qatar Tribune