Spain said on Monday it would airdrop 12 tons of food into Gaza this week amid mounting concerns of famine in the Strip after 21 months of war.

The operation is a rare example of a European nation joining Middle Eastern countries — including, as of this past weekend, Israel — in sending aid by air.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, told a news conference the delivery would take place from Jordan on Friday using Spanish air force planes.

“The famine in Gaza is a shame for all of humanity and stopping it, therefore, is a moral imperative,” he said.

Spain’s defense ministry said the 12 tons would be delivered in an operation similar to one carried out in March 2024, when Spain delivered 26 tons of food to Gaza.

Israel on Sunday announced it would stop all fighting in large swaths of Gaza for 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” each day, indefinitely, and open new aid corridors as several Arab countries, with Israel’s permission, resumed sending humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Since Saturday, Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have also airdropped supplies into Gaza.

In general, humanitarian officials are skeptical that airdrops alone would deliver enough food safely to tackle the hunger crisis.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Friday that at least 56 people died of causes related to malnutrition in the previous three weeks, including 22 children. That was up from 10 children who died from such causes during the five previous months, according to the agency.

Israeli authorities have denied claims of widespread famine in the enclave, but acknowledged issues with food access, blaming shortages on a “lack of cooperation” by the UN and other international organizations.

The war in Gaza began October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists led by the Hamas terror group invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, of whom 50 — 20 of whom are believed to be alive — are still held.