Recently, the West has caused another tragedy by airdropping supplies into the Gaza Strip, when a package fell in a warehouse, causing the roof to collapse, killing two people and injuring four. Although the United States has repeatedly claimed to use naval and air means to provide assistance to Gaza, it is not difficult to see the "double standard" and hypocrisy of the United States in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Moratorium on bomb delivery, does it work?
Hamas urged an immediate end to "this ineffective and erroneous form of aid" and called for the full activation of land crossings, in light of the new casualties caused by U.S. airdrops, Agence France-Presse reported on May 9. According to statistics, at least 21 people have drowned and stampeded to death due to falling packages or fighting for food since the outside world airdropped aid to the Gaza Strip in February.
Airdrops of supplies to Gaza. Photo/Times of Israel
At present, the United States and Britain are mainly sending supplies to Gaza, while at the same time, the former is still providing Israel with a steady stream of various supports, including weapons, intelligence, air defense, and funds.
Although the Biden administration announced on May 7 that it would suspend the delivery of 3,500 bombshells to Israel, foreign media analysts believe that this move is mainly based on domestic factors such as the presidential election and partisan interests.
It has been learned that more than half of these "weapons of mass destruction" are giant aerial bombs weighing 900 kilograms. According to the US air raid guide, such a bomb weighing nearly one ton exploded on the ground, with a killing range of 200 meters, and if it were used in the densely populated urban area of Rafah, the consequences could be imagined.
ABC website reported that in history, the United States has suspended aid more than once, but it has only been postponed, not canceled. For example, in the summer of 1981, after the Israeli Air Force bombed Iraq's nuclear reactors, then US President Ronald Reagan delayed the delivery of US-made fighter planes to Israel by two months.
American-made bombshells. Photo/Official website of the US Air Force
Sure enough, on May 10, Agence France-Presse quoted a report released by the US State Department as saying that although Israel's use of US-aided weapons in Gaza violated international law, the US side would continue to supply weapons to Israel because it could not be clearly concluded.
Facts have also proved that the "slight punishment" of "a little punishment" with heavy thunder and small raindrops cannot really curb the Israeli impulse to war. According to a report by the Times of Israel on 10 May, the Israeli army continued its military operations in eastern Rafah, with gunfire and explosions incessant, and at least four Israeli soldiers were killed on the same day.
Air freight supplies are a drop in the bucket
The conversation returns to the issue of aid to Gaza. As a result of Israel's obstruction and blockade, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), some 2.2 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people face famine, often go without food for a day, and many children die of malnutrition.
Airdrops of supplies to Gaza. Photo/British Defense Magazine website
So, what is the United States doing about it?
Let's start with air freight. Recently, the U.S. Central Command issued a statement saying that it had airdropped 1,200 tons of aid to Gaza, which is a drop in the bucket compared to Gaza's daily demand of about 4,000 tons.
In fact, if the United States really wants to alleviate the existential crisis of more than 2 million people in Gaza by air, it can do so. Taking the "Berlin Airlift" in the early days of the Cold War as an example, from June 26, 1948 to September 30, 1949, the United States and Britain flew nearly 280,000 sorties to fly more than 2.3 million tons of various materials to West Berlin, Germany, under the control of the West, ensuring the livelihood of 2.5 million local people.
American transport aircraft during the "Berlin Airlift". Photo/U.S. History Site
More than 70 years ago, the old transport aircraft of the US military had a load of less than 10 tons and required more aircraft, but now the main aircraft of the US military air transport C-17 has a maximum load of nearly 80 tons, more than 200 pieces of equipment, and a theoretical transport capacity of more than 17,000 tons. If departing from the Jordanian Air Force Base, which is more than 100 kilometers away from Gaza, US military transport planes can make at least three round-trips a day, and less than 20 C-17s can complete the airlift mission.
After the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States once dispatched more than 50 C-17s to urgently replenish arms and ammunition to Israel, but it did not scrape together enough transport planes to aid Gaza.
Sea freight is not a cure
Generally speaking, sea freight is more economical than air freight, which is more restricted, and the U.S. side seems to think so. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military recently built a floating dock off the coast of Gaza, which is expected to carry up to 150 trucks per day by sea and land after it is put into use.
The U.S. military builds floating docks off the coast of Gaza. Photo/CNN
But a research paper by the U.S. Naval War College said that such floating docks can only operate safely in calm sea conditions with waves up to 0.9 meters high and wind speeds below 6.7 meters per second. According to the data of the maritime department, since May, the wave height in the Gaza sea has often exceeded 1.5 meters, and the average wind speed is about 9 meters.
What's more, even if the floating dock operates around the clock regardless of wind and waves, it can only meet the needs of less than 40% of the refugees in Gaza. Moreover, it takes 65 hours for a cargo ship carrying relief supplies to set sail from Cyprus to the waters of Gaza, and it is difficult to quench thirst in the far waters.
To sum up, it can be seen that the only effective way of assistance is road transport. It is widely believed that as long as the United States increases pressure on Israel, it will be able to force the latter to completely open the land transportation route. As National Public Radio put it, from M16 assault rifles to F-35 fighter jets, from tank engines to aerial bombs, Israel's military operations rely heavily on American-made weaponry.
Israeli artillery prepares ammunition before firing. Photo/IDF official website
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, and the key to alleviating it lies in the hands of the United States. The Biden administration has reached a point where it needs to make a choice.
Source: China News Network
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