The flight engineer of the Jordanian military plane skims over the cockpit gauges as the aircraft climbs out of an airbase near Amman, on its way to drop parcels of aid into Gaza by parachute.
He and the other crew members on the C-130H transport plane know the drill, having flown dozens of missions as part of a renewed international effort based in Jordan to supply war-stricken Gaza.
“After more than 50 runs, it becomes routine,” said the engineer, who did not want his name to be disclosed as per military rules.
The air drops resumed last month after Israel, under mounting international pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, allowed the aid deliveries to resume. The first consignment had started in November 2023, a month after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel and killed 1,200 people.
The engineer said that, while Jordan lacks the enormous aircraft operated by some nations, the four-engine C-130 has consistently proven more than capable of supporting humanitarian supply missions over the past two decades.
“The C-130 is both flexible and reliable,” he said, adding that although other countries deliver aid for Gaza to Jordan using larger C-17 aircraft, the cargo is ultimately transferred to smaller C-130s for onward distribution.
The war, and the possibility that the Palestinians would experience a third mass displacement in less than a decade, has put enormous political pressure on Jordan. A large proportion of the kingdom’s population of ten million are of Palestinian origin. The government said it would do all it could to help the Palestinians, as long as it falls within the confines of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
An open channel with Israel, as well as US support, enabled Jordan to open the air drop route. Around 600 tonnes have been parachuted into Gaza since the relaunch of the operation on July 27, a significant acceleration but a paltry volume compared with the needs of the population in the Strip.
Gaza has been under the rule of Hamas for almost two decades. Jordanian officials have repeatedly said that the air route is no substitute for unfettered humanitarian land access to Gaza.
The C-130H plane on Sunday dropped 20 tonnes of baby formula and other food supplies. Other countries such as the Netherlands and Italy are participating in the operation – with one plane returning to Jordan and the other taking off. In total, 93 tonnes of aid were sent from Jordan on Sunday.
The flight engineer, a bespectacled officer, recounted previous missions he had been on. He has flown to Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and Indonesia. The one to Gaza, however, was into an intense war zone.
The aircrew took the plane to 17,000 feet, flying over the Mediterranean before descending to 2,000 feet, when the cargo master and three personnel released the electronically guided cargo from the hold. The flying time over Gaza was only a few minutes.
The area of the drop-off is only a short flight from Amman but separated by the physical and political restraints of an occupation and militant forces which the kingdom has sought to keep from spreading on its own soil.
This year, the kingdom banned the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing the group of jeopardising national security because some of its ranks had sought to manufacture weapons in Jordan.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, and many Palestinians in Gaza have relatives in Jordan.
The young airman who performed the mission on Sunday boarded a microbus to take his team back to headquarters, driving along the inhospitable desert confines of Jordan.
The driver put on music, and the passengers sank into checking their mobile phones. Under military regulations, they cannot express political opinions or discuss the route of the C-130H and the logistics involved in flying over Israeli-controlled airspace.
The six crew in the cockpit – comprising two pilots, the flight engineer, a navigator, a trainee, and a trainer – didn’t exchange many words. However, many airmen come from areas in Jordan that has had historic connections to Palestine, where intermarriages, commercial exchange, and support for the Palestinian cause have built a bond that has shaped modern Jordan and made its trajectory dependent on developments in Palestine.
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The specs: Volvo XC40
Price: base / as tested: Dh185,000
Engine: 2.0-litre, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 250hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.4L / 100km
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
RESULTS
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