Jordan confirms high costs of Gaza aid deliveries but denies profiting
Jordanian authorities have strongly rejected a report by Middle East Eye, which stated that Amman had earned significant sums of money through the delivery of international aid into Gaza.
On Thursday, MEE reported that Jordan profited from coordinating aid deliveries through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO), the official body that acts as the sole conduit for aid passing through the country.
MEE spoke with sources from aid organisations and individuals with knowledge of the JHCO's operation, who said authorities charged $2,200 for each aid truck entering Gaza, $200,000 for each random aircraft aid drop and $400,000 for each targeted aircraft aid drop.
One source said that aid attributed to the JHCO had in fact originated from foreign governments and NGOs - both Jordanian and international - while direct contributions from Jordan's government were negligible.
On Friday, the JHCO's media office responded that Jordan had covered the expense of land convoys, aid drops, an air bridge and flights through al-Arish in Egypt, before other countries and organisations joined the efforts.
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It said that Amman fully covered the expenses of 125 'purely Jordanian airdrops' while 'friendly and brotherly countries' covered the cost of 266 aid drops in which they had requested to also be involved.
The distance between Amman and the southern Gaza boundary with Egypt is around 200km.
The JHCO media office said the costs of airdrops were, in fact, slightly higher than stated in MEE's report, with free airdrops costing $210,000 each and GPS-guided airdrops reaching 'up to $450,000'.
Gaza aid crisis: NGOs fear Israeli crackdown as mass starvation looms Read More »
It said that these reflected the costs of a single airdrop and strongly denied that Jordan had profited from these operations.
The JHCO confirmed the $2,200 figure for each aid truck entering Gaza, stating that this covered insurance fees, operating expenses, maintenance and fuel.
It said that the direct cost of Jordan's support to the people of Gaza 'amounted to tens of millions' of dollars, while indirect costs on the Jordanian state 'reached hundreds of millions'.
The media office described MEE's report as an attempt to 'tarnish Jordan's image for malicious and misleading purposes'.
Aid organisations were told by the JHCO that fees were paid directly to the Jordanian Armed Forces, sources told MEE.
Sources added that Jordan had expanded its logistical infrastructure in response to rising revenues from the aid operations.
MEE's sources also said that the kingdom had recently acquired 200 new aid trucks through a foreign grant and is building larger UN-supported storage depots in anticipation of increased deliveries under new international arrangements.
Insufficient aid
Since the outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza, Jordanian leaders have had to navigate growing anti-Israel sentiment at home while maintaining their strategic relationship with the country.
Jordan is home to a large population descended from refugees forced to flee historic Palestine after the mass expulsions of 1948, widely known as the Nakba.
In the war's early months, mass demonstrations in support of Gaza and Palestinian factions, particularly Hamas, were common across Jordan.
Under mounting domestic pressure, the Jordanian military began airdropping aid into Gaza about a month after the war began and Israel imposed a full siege.
In the midst of despair over Gaza, a regional struggle for freedom is brewing Read More »
Since then, Jordan has carried out around 400 airdrop operations, some in coordination with other countries, according to the military.
King Abdullah II himself took part in at least one of the missions, all of which were pre-arranged with the Israeli military.
The airdrops have faced widespread criticism, including from Gaza residents and humanitarian workers.
They argue that the airdrops, which have in some cases killed or wounded Palestinians, are unsafe, inadequate and unnecessary, particularly when land crossings remain a more viable route for aid delivery.
Jordanian officials also claim to have dispatched at least 140 aid convoys by land since the war began, each carrying multiple truckloads of relief.
These convoys, too, were subject to Israeli approval and coordination before reaching the besieged enclave.
According to Palestinian officials in the Gaza Strip, 500 trucks of supplies were required daily under pre-war conditions - a need that has not been met since Israel's assault began 19 months ago.
On 9 October 2023, two days after the Hamas-led assault on Israel, former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant - now wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes - declared a 'complete siege' on Gaza.
Although limited aid and commercial goods trickled in at times, the siege has largely remained intact.
On 2 March, Israel reimposed a total blockade. In the two months since, no aid or goods have entered Gaza, pushing the enclave to what some aid agencies call 'catastrophic famine levels'.
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