By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
AMMAN/JERUSALEM/GAZA (Worthy News) – The Netherlands’ military has dropped four pallets containing medical supplies and other aid from a great height over the Gaza Strip in the first such operation by Dutch forces, several officials said Sunday.
Sunday’s airdrop came on the request of Jordan and after Israel ensured that no weapons were delivered, the Dutch Ministry of Defense confirmed.
“Today, together with the Jordan armed forces, the Netherlands carried out a successful airdrop over Gaza with medical supplies for a hospital. The Netherlands remains ready to provide more humanitarian assistance,” wrote Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren on social media platform X.
The dropping came after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel should allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and avoid genocide, said Maurice ‘Skunk’ Schonk, Dutch defense chief for international operations.
However, the ICJ did not order Israel to end its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. The armed conflict broke out after Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others in Israel on October 7.
Sunday’s airdrop was done at great height amid concerns that Hamas and its allies could use anti-aircraft defenses over Gaza, Skunk said.
Everyone on board the C-130 Hercules transport plane was wearing oxygen equipment, he added. Skunk recalled that when the flap opened, the packages slid out, and soon a huge parachute opened. “It’s like throwing half a Fiat Panda [car] down. On average, it’s about five hundred kilos (1,102 pounds).”
‘EVERYTHING SPECIAL’
“Everything was special about this operation,” said commander Piet Klein of the Defense Paraschool, which trains for deployments where parachutes are used. “These packages require a huge parachute: almost a hundred square meters (1076 square feet),” he told Dutch daily De Telegraaf (The Telegraph).
“We have done drops before, for example, in Africa,” stressed Klein. “That’s a simple drop with round parachutes. But we have never used the system with these computer-controlled mattress parachutes outside of training before.”
Sunday’s supplies were dropped near a Gaza hospital, according to military sources familiar with the operation.
A satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) with the latest information about altitude and winds guided the parachute to the landing field, where it fell near the target point, officials said.
Hospital staff took over the goods, including doctors “eager for medication,” officials said. The action took place under cover of darkness “to prevent a run on the goods on the ground or jihadists from opening fire on air freight,” De Telegraaf reported.
This was the fourth time the Dutch Hercules C-130 for such airdrops following similar recent operations for evacuating people from wartorn Sudan and dropping supplies over earthquake-hit areas in Turkey.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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