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Middle East conflict

Gaza authorities skeptical about dropping humanitarian aid from aircraft

Earlier, Jordan and the United States dropped relief aid for Gaza residents from warplanes

RABAT, March 4. /TASS/. Dropping humanitarian cargoes for Gaza residents from aircraft is not the best option to combat hunger in the Palestinian enclave, the Gaza media office said.

"Dropping aid is not the best way of putting an end to famine in the Gaza Strip," the Al Jazeera television channel quoted it as saying.

"The only solution that can stop hunger is to open checkpoints [on the border with the Gaza Strip] and let 1,000 trucks with humanitarian aid enter the enclave evet day," the media office said.

Earlier, Jordan and the United States dropped relief aid for Gaza residents from warplanes. Number of humanitarian organizations have slammed this method as expensive and inefficient.

Death sentence to nearly 700,000 people

"We are warning about the aggravation of the hunger-linked crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially in its northern areas," a Gaza government spokesman told Al Jazeera. "The occupational (i.e. Israeli - TASS) army is hindering aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip, exposing the lives of 700,000 people to risks. This is a death sentence to these people."

"We insist on the immediate opening of the Rafah checkpoint to deliver aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip. We call on international organizations to resume assistance to thee northern Gaza Strip," the spokesman stressed.

Escalation in the Gaza Strip

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank. The death toll from the escalation has exceeded 30,000.

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