Denmark will take part in airdropping humanitarian aid over Gaza, in an operation coordinated by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, Danish media reported Tuesday.
“We have decided to participate in an airdrop over Gaza,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR.
“There is currently an open window until the end of August, during which Israel has allowed access to its airspace,” he added.
He noted that the method was “by no means an optimal way to deliver emergency aid”.
“It is a kind of emergency solution but it is also where we are now,” the minister said.
The United Arab Emirates and Jordan had requested Denmark’s assistance, news agency Ritzau reported.
The supplies will be dropped from a C-130 aircraft that will fly over the Gaza Strip once or twice before August 22, according to Lokke, who did not give details about the size of the Danish contribution.
Concern has escalated about the situation in the Gaza Strip after 22 months of war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack against Israel in October 2023.
UN-mandated experts have warned that Gaza is slipping into famine while international organisations have for months condemned the restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on aid distribution in Gaza.
Western countries, including Britain, France and Spain, have recently partnered with Middle Eastern nations to deliver humanitarian supplies by air to the Palestinian enclave.
nzg/jll/phz
© Agence France-Presse
