Aid mission comes after Italian premier Giorgia Meloni described Gaza situation as “unsustainable and unjustifiable”.
Italy began airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza on Saturday as part of a mission coordinated by the Italian defence ministry to help Palestinians facing starvation.
The Solidarity Path Operation 2 mission, announced last week by defence minister Guido Crosetto, is being conducted jointly by the Italian army and air force, with the collaboration of the Jordanian military.
A cargo plane carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Friday and landed at Amman airport in Jordan before transferring to a nearby Jordanian military base.
Primo volo in decollo per il lancio con paracadute di aiuti umanitari nella Striscia di #Gaza.
La Difesa c’è sempre, dove serve e quando serve. #DifesaSempre #AiutiUmanitari pic.twitter.com/3CgUlYKIkW
— Ministero Difesa (@MinisteroDifesa) August 9, 2025
The distribution of the essential goods, purchased by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), is being managed by the defence ministry which will use Italian Air Force C-130s to airdrop the aid into Gaza over the course of the next week.
Crosetto also announced that a new special Air Force flight is being planned to transfer more Palestinian patients to Italy for medical treatment.
UN agencies have warned that there is man-made, mass starvation in Gaza, blaming the crisis on Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to the besieged territory.
In a phone call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Italian premier Giorgia Meloni “insisted on the need to immediately end hostilities”, describing the situation in Gaza as “unsustainable and unjustifiable”.
In a statement, Meloni’s office said she reiterated “the urgent need to ensure full and unhindered humanitarian access to the civilian population, renewing Italy’s commitment to this area through the Food for Gaza initiative.”
Photo Ministero della Difesa X
