A Belgian A400M military transport plane and its crew returned to Belgium on Tuesday evening from a 16-day mission delivering aid to Gaza. The plane that was based in Jordan for the duration of the mission made 12 flights over Gaza and dispatched a total of 190 tonnes of food and water.
Belgian transport plane returns home from 16-day mission after dropping 190 tonnes of aid to Gaza
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Air Commander Bruno Beeckmans described the mission as having been “a 100% success”. He did however stress that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains critical.
All 12 flights were successful with no so-called “no-drops”. These are missions that are aborted without any aid having been delivered. There were also no reported casualties on the ground.
However, air dropping aid remains a risky business. “Compared with 2024, we noticed that the population is hungrier and more desperate to get food. This increased the danger that civilians would move into the drop zones,” Air Commander Beeckmans said.
In order to keep risks to a minimum, the Belgian military selected only safe locations away from roads and built-up areas. These zones had been cleared in advance by Israel. Colonel Quentin Aelvoet notes that some partner countries initially accepted riskier drop zones, only to request to drop their aid in the safer Belgian-designated areas mid-flight.
“That sometimes was a source of tension as 10 planes dropping aid in the same location was not the idea. However, through coordination we we were able to resolve any issues”, Colonel said.
Belgium ranks among the leading contributors to the relief effort, accounting for 18% of all aid airdropped so far. Only the United Arab Emirates has airdropped more.