Portugal Colonial - From skies over Gaza, Jordanian crew drops lifeline to civilians

The Jordanian Air Force C-130's crew of eight soldiers pushes pallets of food out of the rear hatch.

Parachutes unfurl, and the crates -- stamped with the Jordanian flag -- drift toward the devastated Gaza Strip, nearly 22 months into the war, an AFP journalist on board reported.

Journalists were only allowed to film the airdrop operation but not the vast swathes of destruction during the two-hour flight, which overflew Palestinian territory for just a few minutes.

The flight departed a base near Amman and was joined by a second plane from the United Arab Emirates.

Approaching Gaza by sea, the aircraft released aid packages containing sugar, pulses and baby milk.

Aid agencies, while grateful, stress that airdrops -- first launched in early 2024 -- are no substitute for overland access.

- 'Tragic' -

This latest round of airdrops, authorised by Israel last week, is led by Jordan and the UAE.

The United Kingdom carried out its first drop on Tuesday, while France plans to deliver 40 tonnes of aid starting Friday.

Inside the aircraft, crew members whispered prayers as the packages were released.

"There's a big difference between what we see of Gaza on television and what we see now, and what (Gaza) was like before," said the captain, peering down at the landscape from 2,000 feet (600 metres).

"It's a tragic and very sad scene -- entire neighborhoods are being razed."

The pilot, who asked not to be identified, said he could see people on the ground tracking the plane's path.

"It shows how bad their situation is," he said.

Israel imposed a total blockade on aid entering Gaza in March, before allowing very limited quantities in late May.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday said the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza was the worst in modern history, and said current levels of aid were far from sufficient.

- 'Humanitarian catastrophe'-

UN-backed experts warned Tuesday that a "worst-case scenario" famine was happening in Gaza that cannot be reversed unless humanitarian groups get immediate and unimpeded access.

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said airdrops over Gaza, announced by various countries in recent days, would not be enough to avert the "humanitarian catastrophe".

"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," the IPC said in a statement.

The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned time was running out and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine".

"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement by the three UN agencies.

Facing intense international pressure, Israel announced on Sunday a daytime pause in hostilities in certain areas for humanitarian purposes.

N.Esteves--PC