Airlift Operation Shifted from Wunstorf to Gaza: German Air Force in Action
In the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, aid distribution has become a contentious issue. While the German military has been involved in air drops of aid, the focus has been on the ground-level distribution challenges dominated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a militarized and heavily controlled system.
Each Bundeswehr aircraft drops around 75 tons of goods per flight, including food items such as rice, flour, sugar, noodles, and canned goods. The transport Airbus 400M drops cargo over the Gaza Strip from a height of 600 meters. The olive-green parachutes used to drop the cargo are old and homemade, using materials that are freely available.
However, the current aid distribution system in Gaza has been widely criticized. The GHF operates under full Israeli military control, with aid distribution sites guarded by private American armed contractors. This system has been condemned by UN experts and humanitarian organizations as facilitating lethal violence, crowd crushes, theft, and a continuation of a siege that uses starvation as a weapon of war.
Nearly 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food, with more than 850 deaths near GHF sites and hundreds more along aid convoy routes controlled by Israel. UN and humanitarian agencies state that the GHF’s militarized operation obstructs dignified aid access and has caused severe injuries and death among vulnerable populations.
The Israeli authorities maintain full siege control, with no significant easing to allow humanitarian trucks through, further worsening conditions of malnutrition and starvation. UN experts call for dismantling the GHF and restoration of UN-led humanitarian aid delivery to reduce civilian casualties and improve access.
Despite announcements of limited Israeli military pauses for humanitarian reasons, attacks and obstruction of aid convoys continue. The UN warns that the population of Gaza is facing a famine, with over 170,000 tons of food from the World Food Programme in the region or on its way.
The Gaza War was triggered by a raid by Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in around 1,200 deaths and over 250 hostages. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 61,000 Palestinians in the past nearly 22 months, with over 150,600 more injured, according to the health authority controlled by Hamas.
Israel has introduced a new procedure for the gradual and controlled resumption of imports through the private sector, with selected Palestinian traders participating. However, German security sources estimate that 50 to 100 percent of aid supplies may be diverted by Hamas or other criminal organizations, but this applies to aid deliveries as a whole.
The German pilots consider the mission safe, but there remains a certain risk. Around 30 Bundeswehr soldiers pack the goods, with around 15 serving as the crew for the two A400Ms. Staff Captain Dieter, a pilot of one of the Bundeswehr aircraft, states that the drops feel positive because they are helping people.
In summary, while the German military's air drops of aid in Gaza are a positive contribution, the current aid distribution is dominated by an Israeli-backed militarized system through the GHF, which has been widely criticized for deadly consequences and blocking effective humanitarian relief. The new Israeli procedure replaced UN-led aid with a highly controlled, violent distribution scheme contributing to ongoing severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
- The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is marked by a highly controversial aid distribution system, with the General News reporting that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), despite being supported by the Israeli military, has been condemned by UN experts and humanitarian organizations due to its alleged involvement in lethal violence, crowd crushes, theft, and perpetuating a siege that employs starvation as a weapon of war.
- Amidst the air drops of aid by the German military, politics plays a significant role in the crisis, as the aid distribution system in Gaza, controlled by the GHF, is under Israeli military control and guarded by private American armed contractors, causing severe injuries and death among vulnerable populations, according to UN and humanitarian agencies.
