CBS News
Inside a U.S. airdrop mission to rush food into Gaza
Over the Gaza Strip — A fatal airdrop mishap in northern Gaza on Friday overshadowed news of hundreds of other parcels being successfully dropped by several planes that took off from Jordan, just east of Israel. Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.S. have been delivering aid in this way as Israel faces mounting pressure to facilitate a significant increase in ground deliveries.
Officials from Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health and an eye witness told CBS News five people were killed when at least one aid parcel’s parachute failed to properly deploy and a parcel fell on them. The victims were in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, and the incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. Eastern).
CBS News was on board a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane as it took off from Jordan — the last of the day’s missions to deliver aid to Gaza, and the first time a U.S. broadcaster has been aboard one of the flights. A U.S. defense official told CBS News Friday that an initial review indicated the American airdrop did not cause the casualties on the ground, but said further investigation was required.
After takeoff at around 1:20 p.m. local time, the U.S. C-130 flew due west for about an hour, over Israel, to northern Gaza. It banked out over the Mediterranean and then descended to 3,000 feet over what was long the Palestinian territory’s biggest population center, the now-decimated Gaza City.
CBS News
The huge plane’s rear doors opened, revealing the destruction below and the white crest of waves against Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline. The U.S. Air Force crew cut the cords keeping the packages in place, releasing them to slide over the edge with their parachutes promptly deploying.
The U.S. C-130 was carrying 16 packages on Friday, each holding 720 ready-to-eat meals, nearly two tons of rice, wheat, powdered milk and dates.
It was the fourth U.S. airdrop of the week, all aimed at providing some modicum of relief to starving Palestinians caught up in the war between Israel and Hamas, which is now in its sixth month.
Nobody, from officials in Washington to aid agencies still trying to work in Gaza, has suggested the airdrops are anywhere near enough to meet the desperate need on the ground.
The U.S. airdrops began Saturday, a day after President Biden announced the plans. He did so after more than 100 Gazans were killed in a chaotic encounter last week, when Israeli security forces opened fire on throngs of starving people rushing to grab food from a truck convoy that was under Israeli protection.
The Israel Defense Forces said most of the victims were killed in a stampede, but doctors in Gaza told CBS News most of those brought in dead or injured had gunshot wounds.
The airdrops have been framed as missions of last resort. Planes are more expensive than trucks, need more fuel and more personnel, and deliver far less aid — by some estimates as much as 75% less.
In tacit acknowledgment of those facts and seemingly frustrated by Israel’s slow approval process for more aid via land, President Biden, during his State of the Union address on Thursday, announced an emergency mission to open a new sea route for aid, with the U.S. military set to oversee construction of a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast, to get more aid in faster.
It’s expected to take several weeks to be ready, however.
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Topeka, Kansas — When Angelica Chernytska and her mother Larysa left war-torn Ukraine earlier this year, they never expected Topeka, Kansas, would quickly feel like home.
“I was overwhelmed, that is how I can describe my feelings,” Angelica told CBS News.
That’s because the people of this Midwestern city have created a modern-day welcome wagon.
“It’s very rewarding to see the children thrive in school, not afraid of sirens,” said Yana Ross, president of the nonprofit group Top City Promise.
Ross, who immigrated from Ukraine herself, started the volunteer group to help new immigrants, mostly Ukrainians so far, with almost all expenses for three months, including a place to live.
Larysa said she “was overwhelmed” to walk into a fully furnished apartment the day after she arrived in Topeka.
What is unique is how the group has partnered with the community to ensure the immigrants have more than just a roof over their heads. A Latter-day Saints church welcomes the newcomers to pick up free food, while a Catholic church stores donations that furnish the homes.
Topeka Public Schools has gone as far as hiring a director of cultural innovation, Dr. Pilar Mejía, who helps ease the transition for children.
“We need to strengthen our community from the ground up, and it starts with the children, and so we need to make sure that everybody feels like they’re important,” Mejía said. “They are seen, they are welcomed.”
Topeka Public Schools now has an international flair. In the district of almost 13,000, Ukrainian and Spanish are the most common languages after English. More than 200 refugees have benefitted from the program and the helping hand extends to all nationalities.
Lisbeth Amador came from Nicaragua with her husband and 6-year-old daughter Sury. The couple have jobs, a car and a good school for Sury.
“I love it,” Amador says of her family’s new home. “…It’s different, my life here.”
The cost of welcoming a family can range anywhere from $300 to $10,000 depending on needs. Top City Promise relies on fundraising and the big hearts of the people who call Topeka home.
“Community is what makes Topeka different, because of the desire of the Topeka community to help, to help them to be successful,” Ross said.
