President Joe Biden said Friday that the United States would start to deliver relief supplies from the air into Gaza, a day after the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians at an aid convoy. \u201cWe need to do more, and the United States will do more,\u201d Biden told reporters at the White House at the start of a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. \u201cIn the coming days we\u2019re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing air drops of additional food and supplies,\u201d the 81-year-old Biden said in the Oval Office. The announcement comes as negotiations continue for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza which has been under siege since Hamas\u2019s October 7 attacks on Israel. Biden has pushed Israel to reduce civilian casualties and allow aid in, while at the same time he has maintained military assistance for the key US ally. Biden said later he was \u201choping\u201d for a deal on a six-week ceasefire by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which will start on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar. \u201cWe\u2019ll get there but we\u2019re not there yet \u2014 we may not get there,\u201d Biden added, without elaborating, as he headed to his helicopter to spend the weekend at the presidential Camp David retreat. Ceasefire talks have been complicated by Thursday\u2019s incident in which dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy in northern Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine. An Israeli source acknowledged troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it \u201cposed a threat.\u201d \u201cInnocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families. And you saw the response when they tried to get aid in,\u201d Biden said as he announced the air drops. The US president added that he would \u201cinsist\u201d that Israel let in more aid trucks, while it would also look at a possible \u201cmarine corridor\u201d to deliver large amounts of aid into Gaza. Biden had been planning air drops for some time but Thursday\u2019s incident \u201ccertainly underscored for the president\u201d the need to find other ways to get aid in, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. The United States planned to carry out multiple air drops that would last weeks, said Kirby, adding that it would not be \u201cone and done.\u201d But it was also a \u201ctough military operation\u201d that required careful planning by the Pentagon for the safety of both Gazan civilians and US military personnel. \u201cIt is extremely difficult to do an airdrop in such a crowded environment as is Gaza,\u201d said Kirby. The United States also had to manage the risks to its own personnel. \u201cThis is a war zone. So there\u2019s an added element of potential danger to the pilots in the aircraft,\u201d he added. Kirby said Israel was meanwhile \u201cseriously\u201d investigating the aid convoy deaths. However, Washington would continue to support Israel militarily despite the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Kirby said. \u201cWe are still helping Israel with their needs to defend themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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