By Al-Fassel and AFP | 2023-11-28

The United States is sending three military aircraft to Egypt to bring vital humanitarian aid for Gaza during a truce between Israel and Hamas, senior US officials said November 28.

The move was announced as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to pay his third wartime visit to Israel and the West Bank this week, and as mediators announced an extension of a truce in Gaza.

The relief flights carrying food, medical supplies and winter gear are the first by the US military since the conflict began with the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

The flights start a day after US President Joe Biden said he would use an extension of the truce to get more aid into Gaza, and as international efforts continue to further prolong the pause.

"We are very glad to announce we will have the first of three relief flights that are facilitated by the unique capabilities of the US military that will be arriving in North Sinai in Egypt" on November 28, one of the US officials said.

"This will be to bring a series of items -- medical items, food aid, winter items, given that winter's coming in Gaza -- for the civilian population," the official said in an embargoed call on November 27.

The United Nations (UN) will then take the aid from North Sinai into Gaza, the officials said, with two further planeloads to arrive "in coming days."

Mediator Qatar on November 27 announced a 48-hour extension of an initial four-day truce, opening the way for further releases of hostages seized by Hamas during its October terrorist attack on Israel.

'Significant surge'

A French warship arrived on November 27 in the Egyptian town of al-Arish near the border with Gaza to serve as a hospital for wounded civilians, a port source said.

The Dixmude is expected to have two operating rooms and 40 beds.

Hundreds of critically wounded Palestinians have crossed into Egypt in recent weeks with special exit permits, after the majority of hospitals in Gaza were forced out of service, according to the UN.

Meanwhile, 800 aid trucks reached southern Gaza from Egypt in the first four days of the truce, with some aid also reaching badly-hit northern Gaza, the US officials said.

"The movement over the last four or five days of assistance has been so significant in volume that a backfill... is now needed and these planes are part of that backfill," a second US official said.

While Washington has deployed two aircraft carriers in the region to deter Iran and its allies, and ferried military assistance to key ally Israel, it has not previously used military assets during this conflict to deliver humanitarian aid.

Biden, who has firmly backed Israel while calling on it to reduce civilian casualties, said on November 27 that the truce had allowed a "significant surge" in aid.

Diplomatic initiative

The White House said, however, that Israel had made it clear it would continue its war on Hamas whenever the truce ended.

US officials said Biden had warned Israel that it must not cause the same kind of mass displacements in southern Gaza that its offensive in the north triggered earlier in the month.

"From the president down, we have reinforced this in a very clear way for the government of Israel," the first US official said.

Blinken, who has engaged in an intensive round of diplomacy since the war began, will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, a senior US official said.

"In his meetings in the Middle East, the secretary will stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and improve protection to civilians in Gaza," the official said.

"The secretary will discuss with partners in the region the principles he laid out for the future of Gaza and the need to establish an independent Palestinian state," the official said.

The United States has been pressing Israel to work with the Palestinian Authority and rein in settlers who have attacked Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7.