ISTANBUL

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for full humanitarian access to Gaza and said that the airdrops are "not enough."

"Airdrops are not enough. Israel must allow full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," Macron wrote on X about carrying out a food airdrop operation in Gaza.

He also thanked Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support in the operation.

This comes as the Israeli army announced Saturday that it would allow limited quantities of aid to be airdropped over Gaza and that it had begun a “local tactical pause in military activity” in specific areas of the Gaza Strip to permit humanitarian access.

On Tuesday, France announced that it would organize four flights carrying 10 tons of food each into the Gaza Strip starting Friday.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 154 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 89 children.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.