Middle East updates: German air force begins Gaza aid drops

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Friday that Rome plans to evacuate Palestinian children in need of medical treatment from the Gaza Strip.

Tajani said Italy was working on a plan to fly out some 50 people, including adults to accompany the children.

He also announced plans for Italy to join other countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain, in airdropping aid into Gaza.

The first Italian airdrops could start as early as August 9. Italy is also set to provide another €5 million ($5.7 million) to be spent on food for Palestinians in Gaza. 

Aircraft operated by Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have been dropping aid pallets on Gaza since Sunday, when Israel began allowing more aid into the sealed-off territory by air and land after months of near-total blockade.

Amid warnings of imminent famine in Gaza, the UN and other aid organizations have criticized such measures as largely symbolic, arguing it is significantly less costly and more efficient to supply aid via land.

Since Sunday, in addition to authorizing airdrops, Israel has allowed around 200 trucks per day from UN agencies and other organizations to enter Gaza. Before the war, about 500 trucks entered the territory each day.

Spain and France both announced on Friday that they had airdropped tons of food into Gaza.

Spain dropped 12 tons of aid, while French President Emmanuel Macron said his country carried out its first humanitarian airdrop of several tons and that more would follow over the course of the weekend.

The Spanish mission deployed 24 parachutes, each capable of carrying 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of food, for a total of 12 tons —enough for about 11,000 people, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.

Spain also has aid waiting to cross into Gaza by road from Egypt, the minister added in a video message posted on social network X, along with a video of the operation.

"The induced famine that the people of Gaza are suffering is a disgrace to all of humanity," Albares said. "Israel must open all land crossings permanently so that humanitarian aid can enter on a massive scale."

Meanwhile, Macron wrote in English on X: "Faced with an urgent humanitarian crisis, we just conducted a food airdrop over Gaza."

"But airdrops are not enough. Israel must grant full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," he added.

Several tons of food supplies will be delivered to Gaza "over several days," the French foreign and defense ministries said in a joint statement.

"France is also working on land transport, by far the most effective solution for the large-scale and unhindered delivery of humanitarian goods desperately needed by the population," the statement added.

Although Israel has allowed more aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since Sunday, aid agencies have said Israeli authorities could do more to speed up border checks and open more border crossings.

UN-backed experts warned on Tuesday that a "worst-case scenario" of famine was unfolding in Gaza and could only be reversed if humanitarian groups got immediate and unimpeded access to the occupied Palestinian territory.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he would discuss Berlin's next steps regarding Israel and the war in Gaza with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul over the weekend, following the latter's visit to the region.

Merz said the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip was "unacceptable" and had to change "as soon as possible."

"At the very least, a minimum of aid — medical assistance and food aid — for the population must be guaranteed," he said. "And Israel of course carries a significant amount of responsibility for that."

Merz insisted, however, that the root cause of the current conflict lies "clearly and exclusively" with the Islamist militant group Hamas and its deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

"If Hamas drops its weapons, the conflict will be over tomorrow," he said. "If Hamas releases the [Israeli] hostages, the conflict will be over tomorrow."

A United Nations (UN) agency said on Friday that it had around "6,000 trucks loaded with aid stuck outside Gaza waiting for the green light to enter."

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), cited the figure in a social media post in which he criticized the airdrops being conducted over Gaza by several states, including Germany.

"Airdrops are at least 100 times more costly than trucks, trucks carry twice as much aid as planes," he said. "If there is political will to allow airdrops — which are highly costly, insufficient and inefficient — there should be similar political will to open the road crossings."

Currently, only 100 to 200 trucks are entering the enclave each day, according to the Israeli government's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Since May 19, out of 2,010 trucks allowed into Gaza, only 260 actually made it to their intended destination, while 1,753 were intercepted "either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors during transit," according to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

By contrast, Lazzarini said the UN had been able to deliver 500 to 600 aid trucks per day to Gaza during the ceasefire earlier this year.

"Aid reached the entire population of Gaza in safety and dignity," he said. "It succeeded in reversing the deepening starvation without any aid diversion … Let's go back to what works and let us do our job."

US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, visited an aid distribution post operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Gaza Strip on Friday, where they praised the controversial, private, US and Israel-backed organization's work in delivering food to starving Palestinians.

"GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!" wrote Huckabee on social media, along with photos of himself and Witkoff engaged in discussions with GHF staff.

He also posted images of GHF banners proclaiming "100 million meals delivered" alongside an American flag. A queue of waiting civilians could be seen behind the banners and a razor wire barrier. 

"Hamas hates GHF b/c it gets food to ppl w/o it being looted by Hamas," he claimed, referring to claims that the Islamist group intercepts international aid deliveries to Gaza in order to either feed their own militants or sell products on to the population at inflated prices.

Critics have pointed out that "100 million meals" distributed to a population of 2 million people works out to roughly one meal per day for 50 days, or less than that over the "two months" cited by Huckabee. They have also questioned the nutritional value of the aid packages and if people can even access them.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published data suggesting there have only been two days (June 16 and 17) since May 29 on which all four GHF sites (Tal al-Sultan, Saudi Neighborhood and Khan Younis in the south and Wadi Gaza further north) have been open simultaneously. Generally, only two or three sites actually open, and there were reportedly four days in a row from July 5-9 on which none opened at all.

When the sites are open, there have been regular reports of Israeli troops opening fire on desperate crowds. According to the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 850 Palestinians were killed while attempting to obtain aid at GHF sites between 27 May and July 31.

"US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths," said Belkis Wille, HRW associate crisis and conflict director, on Friday.

As famine-like conditions take hold in Gaza, human rights organizations have criticized plans by Germany and other countries to airlift food into the territory, calling them "ineffective" and "symbolic."

Read the full story on how NGOs responded to the announcement of renewed aid airdrops in Gaza.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has condemned violence carried out by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, called on Israel to protect the Palestinian population and dismissed suggestions of Israel annexing more territory.

"These acts are being committed by violent Jewish settlers," he said. "They are crimes, they are terror and they must be investigated."

He called reports that members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have stood and watched or even supported acts of settler violence "horrific" and called on "Israel as the occupying power and a state of law to enforce security and prosecute crimes."

Wadephul said that Israeli settlements, which are backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, are "in contravention of international law" and an "obstacle to a two-state solution."

"Settlement projects are aimed at breaking up any future Palestinian state and restricting the freedom of movement of Palestinians," he said.

Referring to a non-binding motion passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, last week which suggested the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, Wadephul dismissed "any annexation fantasies, whether in Gaza or the West Bank" and said they "would not be recognized by Germany."

British PM Keir Starmer has said unless Israel takes significant steps toward peace, the UK will recognize a Palestinian state.

He's using the "inalienable right of the Palestinian people" as a diplomatic tool.

Read the full story on Keir Starmer's change of position on Palestinian statehood.

The German military, the Bundeswehr, has begun airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry in Berlin confirmed on Friday.

German air force transport planes have reportedly dropped 34 pallets with a combined total of 14 tons of food and medical supplies over the besieged Palestinian enclave.

According to the United Nations, Gaza needs some 62,000 tons of aid a month in order for inhabitants to survive.

Amid mounting international criticism of its conduct in Gaza, which has resulted in increasing reports of mass starvation, Israel has been allowing aid to enter the territory via land and air since Sunday.

Regional neighbors Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have been leading the airdrops, with Germany also contributing two aircraft operating from a Jordanian base.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) nevertheless cautioned that airdrops only have a limited effect. "Food and medication is lacking in Gaza," he said. "For many people, including for many children, it's about sheer survival."

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU), who is currently visiting the region, also warned that airdrops cannot replace land deliveries when it comes to ensuring that vital aid reaches those who need it most.

"That's why we're calling urgently on the Israeli government to allow secure access [to Gaza] for the United Nations and international aid organizations and to facilitate secure distribution [of aid]," he said.

 

US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to travel to the Gaza Strip on Friday, where he will observe the humanitarian situation on the ground and inspect aid deliveries alongside the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

"The special envoy and the ambassador will brief the president immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.

Witkoff's visit to the region comes after President Trump called the situation in Gaza "a terrible thing" in response to remarks from far-right Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who on Tuesday called Israel's offensive in the Palestinian enclave a "genocide."

"Oh, it's terrible what occurring there," Trump told reporters. "People are very hungry."

Shortly after Witkoff's arrival in Jerusalem on Thursday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!"

Hamas militants took 251 Israelis hostage during their attack on October 7, 2023, and the militant group is still believed to be holding around 50 of them. Only around 20 are still believed to be alive.

Germany will contribute a further €5 million ($5.7m) to the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) to support the operation of bakeries and soup kitchens in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement was made by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) while visiting UN aid facilities in Jerusalem on Thursday, where he also announced the opening of a new field hospital in Gaza.

The individual, pre-built parts of the field hospital reportedly arrived in Israel in April. The facility is expected to be erected in the north of the Gaza Strip, where it will offer basic healthcare services.

According to the AFP news agency, this is the first German humanitarian aid on the ground to the Palestinian territories since the start of the current conflict.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) will visit the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday where he will hold talks with Palestinian leader Mahmous Abbas.

Increasing Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is expected to be high on the agenda in Ramallah, as is a non-binding resolution passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, last week supporting the total annexation of the West Bank by Israel.

After meeting with leading Israeli politicians in Jerusalem on Thursday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Wadephul warned that "Israel runs the risk of becoming increasingly isolated internationally" over what he called a "humanitarian disaster" in Gaza which is "beyond imagination."

Hello and welcome to our coverage of developments in the continuing conflict in the Middle East on Friday, August 1.

After warning Israel on Thursday to do more to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip or face increasing international isolation, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will today travel to the occupied West Bank for talks with  Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.

Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is also in the region and is set to visit Gaza alongside the US ambassor to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

Meanwhile, there are renewed reports of Palestinians being shot and killed by Israeli troops while trying to access food and aid.

And if you missed anything, you can catch up on yesterday's developments here.