"The mockery of this complete bull**** PR stunt was universal,"
"Everybody knew that it wasn't going to make any meaningful dent."
"What was striking was how quickly we pivoted from criticism to emulation not because we thought it was the right way to get aid in, but because, faced with an inability to diplomatically move the Israelis at that point to increase trucks, we were going to throw everything at the wall, no matter how inefficient, no matter how expensive, and frankly, no matter how dangerous,"
In late February 2024, Jordanian cargo planes airdropped large pallets of food with giant parachutes into northern Gaza where aid had been scarce. Israeli military operations in the area had severed delivery routes used by international organizations, leaving civilians desperate and sometimes eating animal feed and weeds. Senior U.S. officials engaged in intense discussions with Israel to open land routes and increase truck convoys. Initial U.S. reactions deemed the Jordanian drops a PR stunt unlikely to make a meaningful dent. Days later, the U.S. decided to conduct its own airdrops after diplomatic efforts to move Israel failed. Officials inside the White House, State Department and USAID engaged in strong, sometimes bitter, debates over how far to press Prime Minister Netanyahu to allow more aid.
Read at www.npr.org
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