US to send relief flights to Egypt with aid for Gaza
The United States will send three relief flights into Egypt on Tuesday to keep up the flow of humanitarian aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, which has reached its highest levels as officials take advantage of the current humanitarian pause.
"The movement over the last four or five days of assistance has been so significant in volume that a backfill in El Arish [International Airport in Egypt] is now needed, and these planes are part of that backfill," a senior Biden administration official told reporters during a telephone call on Monday afternoon.
Some 800 trucks carrying aid have crossed into Gaza during the first days of the pause, officials said, which is a huge increase from the days prior. So far, a total of about 2,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since Oct. 7, meaning that 40% of them had gone in in just the last four days.
The planes on Tuesday will be carrying medical aid urgently needed in Gaza as well as food, particularly for children, and winter clothing as the rainy season begins, according to officials.
The aid will be delivered by the United Nations to civilians.
Two more planeloads are expected to follow in the coming days, officials said. Previously, there were also five commercial flights of aid coordinated by the U.S. government, according to officials.
The officials emphasized this aid as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s commitment to helping the Palestinian people, saying that he has made sure America is the largest single donor both to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and to Palestinian territories.
Going forward, the officials said the goals for humanitarian aid in Gaza will be expanding access, pushing for restoration of essential services, especially water, and keeping civilians out of harms way.
"The president has also consistently stressed the importance of ensuring military operations are conducted in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law, including with respect to the protection of civilians," the senior Biden administration official told reporters.
Officials did not offer any new information on the hostage negotiations between Gaza's militant rulers, Hamas, and Israel but reiterated that they hope to see Americans released in the coming days.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett and Morgan Winsor