Jordan airdrops "urgent medical aid" into Gaza bypassing Israeli embargo

AMMAN: Medical aid was airdropped into Gaza by the Jordan Air Force, bypassing Israel's tight embargo on aid entering the Strip, Times of Israel reported.

Jordan King Abdullah posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the airdrop took place around Sunday midnight, with medical supplies and drugs being parachuted to a Jordanian field hospital in Gaza.

"Our fearless air force personnel air-dropped at midnight urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza. This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza. We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren," King Abdullah stated.

However, it remains unclear if the aid reached the hospital, or if the operation was carried out with Israel's knowledge or consent, Times of Israel reported.

Notably, Israel has insisted on inspecting all aid entering the Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, fearing that weapons or defensive equipment could be smuggled to the Hamas terror group.

Gazans and other rights groups have complained that the amount of aid is too paltry and the pace too slow to reach the Strip.

Earlier in the day, several rockets were intercepted by Israel's Dome Missile defence system over Tel Aviv Skyline.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it is "very concerned" about reports of another communications outage in Gaza.

"Without connectivity, people who need immediate medical attention cannot contact hospitals and ambulances. All channels of communication must be restored immediately," the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.

The main United Nations agency supporting Palestinians in Gaza has lost contact with the "vast majority" of its team in the territory, it said earlier Sunday.

The WHO has documented 102 attacks on healthcare establishments in the Gaza Strip since October 7, it said in a separate post on Sunday, CNN reported.

The WHO said these attacks have killed hundreds of people, wounded hundreds more, and caused damage to dozens of healthcare facilities, while also damaging ambulances that serve the strip.

"Over half of the health attacks and over a half of hospitals damaged were in Gaza City," the WHO said, referring to the main population centre in the territory.