Belgian military returns after humanitarian drops in Gaza

Belgian troops have returned from a 16-day mission delivering aid over Gaza. An A400M transport plane completed twelve flights, dropping 190 tonnes of food and water. Air commander Bruno Beeckmans called the operation “a hundred percent success,” though he stressed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains critical.

All twelve flights succeeded, with no “no-drops” (missions aborted without deliveries) or casualties on the ground. But the risks remained high. “Compared with 2024, we noticed that the population was hungrier and more desperate to get food, which increased the danger of civilians moving into drop zones,” Colonel Beeckmans explained.

To minimize that risk, Belgian forces selected only safe locations away from roads and built-up areas, within zones pre-cleared by Israel. Colonel Quentin Aelvoet noted that some partner countries initially accepted riskier drop zones, only to request safer Belgian-designated areas mid-flight. “That sometimes created tensions, because ten planes dropping in the same location was not the idea. But through coordination we managed to resolve it,” he said. 

Belgium ranked among the leading contributors to the coalition effort, responsible for 18 per cent of all aid packages delivered. Only the United Arab Emirates dropped more, while countries such as Spain, Canada, and Greece carried out just a handful of missions.

^{Soldiers disembark an Airbus A400M airplane © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS}