Biden announces U.S. will airdrop food aid into Gaza as famine concerns grow

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Friday that the U.S. will drop food aid into the Gaza Strip, noting that the humanitarian aid flowing into the region for Palestinians is insufficient.

“Aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere nearly enough… lives are on the line,” Biden said as he announced the decision about the airdrops during an Oval Office meeting he was holding with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several,” he continued. “We’re going to pull out every stop we can.”

The president reiterated that the U.S. is trying to push for an immediate cease-fire between Hamas and Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, where he said “innocent people” have died.

Later on Friday, the president responded to a reporter's question about when the first air drops will happen, saying, "I’m not positive. I think very soon." Shortly after, Biden addressed a possible cease-fire agreement, saying he's "still hoping for it."

"It's not over 'til it's over," he said.

Biden on Thursday had walked back his previous comments that he hoped a cease-fire agreement could be completed by Monday.

The White House is growing increasingly concerned about possible famine for a sizeable portion of Gaza’s population.

Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, announced this week that the U.S. was sending $53 million in additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

“She’s working on expanding the channels, the corridors through which that aid can flow. We’re going to keep at this,” White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton said Thursday. “The events of this morning just underscored how deep and dire the humanitarian needs amongst