Germany, Jordan want to supply Gaza by air – here is how it could work

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Germany’s government intends to set up an airlift operation to provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Monday.

Details of the operation, which will be carried out in cooperation with Jordan and with the backing of France and the United Kingdom, are still scarce. But previous German aid-dropping operations in the territory may give a glimpse of what to expect, according to a defense spokesman in Berlin.

Officials announced the new initiative following a Cabinet-level meeting, which Merz attended. He said the airlift, which was due to start “without delay,” would be jointly carried out by Germany and Jordan.

The Jordanian government said in an email to Defense News that the German announcement “came in response to a request by Jordan as the dire situation in Gaza worsens.”

The Kingdom bordering Israel to the east will provide “air support to the German aid mission,” which includes logistic support at the airbase, such as fuel and maintenance, among other logistical services, the Jordan Armed Forces said.

“The Jordanian army is ready to provide all types of support to ensure the success of the operation,” a spokesperson said.

Germany will also “closely coordinate” the plan with leaders in Paris and London, the chancellor said in a press conference following the Cabinet meeting.

Starting in November 2023, operation “Solidarity Path” marked one of the largest airdrop humanitarian aid missions to date, and Germany’s first foray into this type of project. At the time, 14 aircraft from nine countries dropped hundreds of tons of goods over Gaza, including ready-to-eat meals, water, flour, and baby formula.

Germany was involved in the mission starting in March 2024, at first flying its C-130 Hercules transport planes and later shifting to the country’s fleet of Airbus A400M, which have a larger carrying capacity. The German military has said that the missions were flown from “an airbase in Jordan.”

Open-source flight records identified the airport as King Abdullah II Air Base, located in the north of the country.

According to the German Ministry of Defense, three weeks passed between the idea to participate and the deployment of German forces to the region, and a novel airdrop system capable of safely delivering the aid was developed during that time.

Dubbed the “Low Cost Aerial Delivery System,” tightly-packed aid palettes were equipped with paratroopers’ chutes that had been withdrawn from service for being 22 years old. Each of the aid drops weighed roughly 430 kilograms. The procedure was specially developed for the mission and had not yet received clearance in Germany when operations in Gaza commenced under an emergency authorization.

In what one German soldier called “unprecedented,” 22 such parcels were loaded onto an A400M transporter, totaling over 9 tons. “The capacity limits of the aircraft were fully taken advantage of,” the German military boasted at the time. Constraints stem from the dimensions of the parcels and the extent of the drop zone more so than the load limits of the aircraft.

The previous German airdrop mission over Gaza ended in May 2024 after racking up a total of 150 flying hours and dropping 315 tons of food.

Meanwhile, Jordan has conducted 129 airdrops since the beginning of the war on Gaza, in addition to 269 joint airdrops in cooperation with other countries, the government said in response to a request.

Berlin’s decision to launch a new airlift mission comes amid a marked shift in tone from many world leaders as the human toll and suffering in Gaza have reached what many declared to be unacceptable levels, and even Israeli human rights organizations have labeled their government’s actions in the territory a “genocide.”

Condemnation has become louder on the international stage of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict and the military’s heavy-handed invasion of Gaza. Merz left the door open for punitive measures against Israel should upcoming talks fail, including stopping weapons deliveries or potentially even putting in place sanctions.

In recent days, Israel has somewhat relaxed its previously near-total blockade of the Gaza Strip, allowing trucks with aid to enter and facilitating the air-dropping of some food and medicine to the population.

Since Sunday, Jordan has conducted three air drops in different parts of the Strip, an armed forces spokesperson said.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

荷兰海牙——德国总理弗里德里希·默茨周一宣布，德国政府计划开展空运行动，向加沙地带的平民提供人道主义援助。

此次行动将与约旦合作，并得到法国和英国的支持，但具体细节目前仍很少。不过，据柏林一位国防部发言人称，德国此前在该地区进行的援助物资空投行动或许能让我们对此次行动有所了解。

官员们在内阁会议后宣布了这项新举措，梅尔茨也出席了会议。他表示，空运行动将“立即”开始，由德国和约旦联合执行。

约旦政府在一封发给《防务新闻》的电子邮件中表示，德国的声明是“应约旦的要求而作出的，因为加沙的严峻局势正在恶化”。

约旦武装部队表示，与以色列东部接壤的约旦王国将为德国援助任务提供“空中支援”，其中包括为空军基地提供后勤支持，例如燃料和维护等后勤服务。

一位发言人表示：“约旦军队已准备好提供各种支持，以确保行动取得成功。”

德国总理在内阁会议后的新闻发布会上表示，德国还将与巴黎和伦敦的领导人“密切协调”该计划。

2023年11月启动的“团结之路”行动是迄今为止规模最大的空投人道主义援助任务之一，也是德国首次参与此类项目。当时，来自九个国家的14架飞机向加沙空投了数百吨物资，包括即食食品、饮用水、面粉和婴儿配方奶粉。

德国自2024年3月起参与了这项任务，最初使用C-130“大力神”运输机，后来转而使用载货量更大的空客A400M运输机。德国军方表示，这些任务是从“约旦的一个空军基地”起飞的。

开源飞行记录显示，该机场为位于该国北部的阿卜杜拉二世国王空军基地。

据德国国防部称，从萌生参与的想法到德国军队部署到该地区，中间间隔了三周时间，在此期间，一种能够安全投放援助物资的新型空投系统被开发出来。

这套被称为“低成本空投系统”的方案，将物资紧密打包，并配备了已服役22年的伞兵降落伞。每次空投的物资重量约为430公斤。该方案是为此次任务专门开发的，在加沙紧急行动开始前，尚未获得德国的批准。

一位德国士兵称之为“史无前例”的行动中，22个这样的包裹被装载到一架A400M运输机上，总重量超过9吨。“飞机的运载能力得到了充分利用，”德军当时宣称。然而，限制因素更多地来自于包裹的尺寸和空投区域的范围，而非飞机的载重限制。

德国上一次对加沙的空投任务于 2024 年 5 月结束，累计飞行 150 小时，投放了 315 吨食物。

与此同时，约旦政府在回应请求时表示，自加沙战争开始以来，约旦已进行了 129 次空投，此外还与其他国家合作进行了 269 次联合空投。

柏林决定发起新的空运任务之际，许多世界领导人的态度发生了明显转变，因为加沙的人员伤亡和苦难已经达到了许多人认为不可接受的程度，甚至以色列人权组织也称其政府在该地区的行为是“种族灭绝”。

国际社会对以色列总理内塔尼亚胡处理冲突的方式以及以色列军队对加沙地带的强硬入侵的谴责声浪日益高涨。梅尔茨表示，如果即将举行的谈判失败，不排除对以色列采取惩罚性措施，包括停止武器交付，甚至可能实施制裁。

近日，以色列在一定程度上放松了此前对加沙地带近乎完全的封锁，允许运送援助物资的卡车进入，并协助向当地民众空投一些食品和药品。

约旦武装部队发言人表示，自周日以来，约旦已在加沙地带的不同地区进行了三次空投。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。