Onboard aid convoy on its way to offer hope for Gaza

Mustafa Kadri looked ahead through the windshield and then in the rearview mirror, as the long convoy of vehicles made its way towards the Jordan Valley. They drove through the sand-colored rock formations, descending towards the Dead Sea, Israel, and ultimately Gaza.

The convoy would first pass through the Israeli customs at the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge border crossing. Afterward, they would head to the Erez crossing into Gaza, where the aid would be transferred to local drivers from the World Food Programme. Mustafa was heading to a place where Israeli settlers blocked roads, and inside the war zone, criminal gangs would hijack aid trucks. However, on this sunny winter morning, the driver felt happy.

"We are transporting aid such as food and medicine to our brothers in Gaza," he said. The word "brothers" recurred throughout his response. He was referring not just to shared humanity or Arab brotherhood, but also because many Jordanians have Palestinian ancestry. "Delivering this aid is a good deed, and it makes me happy," Mustafa stated.

The drivers waved to onlookers and honked their horns. Gaza is a popular cause in Jordan. The honking mingled with the sirens of the police escort, which included two trucks mounted with machine guns. Of course, these escorts would not enter Israel, let alone Gaza. This latest operation involved 120 trucks, the largest since the war began in October 2023. Jordan's aid efforts show the people of Gaza that at least their neighbors have not forgotten them. King Abdullah II of Jordan has personally pushed the kingdom's efforts to send food, medicine, and fuel to Gaza.

The international community has pledged to increase aid once a ceasefire is in place. "It is imperative that a ceasefire removes the major security and political obstacles to delivering aid throughout Gaza," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "The humanitarian situation has reached a catastrophic level." 90% of Gaza's 2.2 million population have been displaced. Up to 2 million people are reliant on aid.

Previously, the UN and aid agencies have accused Israel of repeatedly blocking or delaying the distribution of essential food, medicine, and fuel during the 15-month conflict. Israel denies that it is obstructing aid. But the US at one point threatened to cut military aid to Israel because too little aid was reaching Gaza. In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, a BBC reporter witnessed heartbreaking scenes of exhausted children fighting each other while queuing for food. The daily struggle to collect rice or bread to take home was straining the relationships between the children.

Farah Khaled Basal, a 10-year-old girl from Zeitoun, said she was there to get food for her nine siblings. The small, smiling child was waiting at a center run by World Central Kitchen, whose seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike last April. Farah’s family is separated from her father, who is in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. She told our reporter that she dreams of a ceasefire. "I want to go back to our home, have my father return to us, and have flour available." The line to collect rice included children of all ages.

Rames Mohammed Mizari, 16, is originally from Gaza City. She now lives in a tent with eight family members. Rames looks back almost incredulously at her attitude towards food before the war. "I used to be very picky, and when my mother made cauliflower, I would always complain, saying 'We eat cauliflower every day, I want to eat different food like meat or chicken,' but now I eat everything, good and bad. Even animals don't eat the food we eat." She explained how hunger has created tension in the family.

"When I tell my mother I'm not going to stand in line today, she tells me, 'Then what will we eat? Are we going to keep looking at the sky?' I have to come here. I always think that if I don't come, we won't find anything to eat. In the past, I thought every day about where to go, what to play, what to study, when to sleep. I had my own room, a kitchen. There was a living room where I used to receive guests."

After collecting her share of rice, Rames walked home, passing a crowd of adults and children arriving at the kitchen. She muttered to herself as she disappeared into the early morning crowd. Back in Amman, they were preparing more aid to send to Gaza. The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization said that they could load 150 trucks daily for Gaza if approved. There is no shortage of willingness. Aid agencies, the UN, and other groups are ready. They are all waiting for Gaza to fully open for aid, and for peace to arrive.