On Christmas Eve a very large airdrop of humanitarian aid of food and medicines was organized by Rebuilding Alliance, a 20-year-old religious organization in the U.S. To accomplish this delivery to two parishes in Gaza, not only were donations solicited, but a king, a congresswoman, two ambassadors, and a lobbying delegation to Capitol Hill were mobilized to facilitate this airdrop. The Rebuilding Alliance press release states, “under the directive of His Majesty King Abdullah II, the Jordanian Army delivered” the aid to the parishes. The airdrop video clip is posted on X.
King Abdullah’s involvement involved three organizing actions: 1) a Rebuilding Alliance advocacy team with an attorney walked the halls of Congress, 2) making contact with Jordan’s Ambassador to the U.S., and 3) after an Israeli sharpshooter gunned down an elderly woman and her daughter outside one of the parishes, a Congresswoman “sat down with Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. and secured” a promise from the Israeli Army that it would stop shooting at the church. Once the shipments were ready to go, it was deemed impossible to send them via convoys, and so the airdrop “became the only way to get” the aid “there by Christmas.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II then deployed his army to ensure the delivery arrived.
The Rebuilding Alliance has been working for 20 years to support Gazan families. They end their press release, “Next steps: Let’s press for more aid drops especially to hospitals and schools, open Wadi Gaza to bring UNRWA aid trucks and staff up to the North, return the hostages, and secure a durable humanitarian ceasefire.”
