US to start airdropping food, supplies into Gaza in days ahead: Biden

United States President Joe Biden on Friday (Mar 1) said that the country will start airdropping food and supplies as part of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the days ahead.

Speaking with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in an Oval Office meeting, he called the killing of more than 100 people in Gaza a "tragic and alarming event".

On Thursday (Feb 29), a huge crowd of people in North Gaza rushed towards food aid trucks after which the Israeli forces guarding those trucks opened fire at them.

"The loss of life is heartbreaking. People are so desperate that innocent people got caught in a terrible war unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid in," Biden said. 

Also Read: Israel-Hamas war: Hoping for Gaza ceasefire deal by Ramadan, says Biden

He added, "And we need to do more in the United States, will do more. In the coming days, we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops." 

"In addition to expanding deliveries by land, as I said, we're gonna -- we're gonna insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses because the truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough," the US president further said. 

"Now, it's nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children's lives on the line and we won't stand by and let -- until they -- until we get more aid in there. We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several. I won't stand by and we won’t let up," he added.

White House confirms planning to be robust, additional air drops to be planned

At a media briefing, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said, "There's few military operations that are more complicated than humanitarian assistance air drops. This is----this is a tough military mission to do because so many parameters have to be exactly right. We're going to pursue this the way we would pursue any such operation -- carefully."

He added that the planning will be robust. "I know that we will learn from the first airdrops, and this will be a part of a sustained effort. This isn't going to be one and done," Kirby added.

Watch: Israel War: 'Massacre' in Gaza as Israeli forces kill dozens of aid seekers

"There will be additional airdrops planned and executed. And with each one, I think we'll learn more and we'll get -- we'll get better at them. It's very difficult. It is extremely difficult to do an airdrop in such a crowded environment as is Gaza. Very, very densely populated. A lot of people confined to small spaces. So, you want to do it in a way that you can get it to close -- as close as you can to the people in need, but not in a way that puts them in any danger. And so, the Pentagon will be doing a raft of planning on this," he further said. 

Kirby also added that first airdrops will involve pallets of MREs -- Meals Ready to Eat -- and that the country has been working alongside international aid organisations on distribution.

"I can tell you that this first one coming in -- in a few days, will not be the last one. It will be part of a larger, longer, sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)