Ambulances carrying patients from Gaza hospital arrive at Rafah crossing

AMMAN: Jordan said it air-dropped medical supplies to a Jordanian military field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Monday, with Israel saying the operation was coordinated with them.

Jordan’s King Abdullah wrote on X: “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.”

The Jordan news agency, Petra, quoted an unnamed army source as saying that a “Royal Air Force plane dropped urgent medical aid using parachutes to the Jordanian hospital in Gaza after it was about to run out of supplies due to the delay in delivering aid through the Rafah crossing — between Egypt and Gaza.”

The Israeli media quoted a military statement saying on Monday that it had “coordinated” with Jordan to air-drop vital medical supplies to a Jordanian hospital in Gaza, which has been under constant Israeli bombardment for nearly a month.

Jordanian Government Communications Minister Muhannad Mubaidin said “a lot of complicated logistics” were required to carry out the operation to the hospital in Gaza.

The Jordanian field hospital in Gaza is located in a “difficult area that sees fierce fighting,” and the government holds Israel accountable for any harm to the facility, he said.

“Israel is striking the surroundings of hospitals in Gaza and Jordan has made it clear since the beginning of the conflict that its field hospital will remain,” the minister said, adding: “They (Israelis) have been notified about that.”

He also said that the aid was “tons of … medical supplies,” reiterating Jordan’s call for an end to the war on Gaza and the delivery of relief aid to the besieged coastal enclave.

In the beginning of the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Jordan said that its field hospital in the strip was facing an “existential” threat first due to the lack of supplies and Palestinians’ inability to reach the facility as a result of the heavy bombardment.

But King Abdullah reaffirmed that the hospital would continue operating despite its difficulties.

In 2009, Jordan set up the military field hospital in Gaza following the Israel-Hamas war in 2008.

Last week, the government said that it had dispatched five trucks of medical supplies to the occupied West Bank to be added to other assistance sent to Egypt’s Al-Arish Airport.

Jordan last week said it would “immediately” recall its ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest against the “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” Israel has caused in Gaza.

Amman also said it had told Israel not to send its ambassador to the kingdom, linking the return of the two envoys to Israel halting its war on Gaza.

Jordan was the second Arab country after Egypt to normalize relations with Israel following the Wadi Arab Peace Treaty 1994.