It is all over in seconds. The aircraft slows, lifts its nose and 12, perfectly wrapped pallets of humanitarian assistance slide off the open ramp at the back.

One minute ago, 10 tonnes of food and water was there, the next it was floating gently by parachute in the southwesterly breeze, touching down on the northern shores of Gaza.

This was the largest coalition airdrop of the war: 14 aircraft from nine nations delivering 10 tonnes of aid. The scale of the delivery was timed to mark the end of Ramadan.

At a military airbase to the east of Amman, the capital of Jordan, we watched as aircrew from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Indonesia, UAE and France were briefed by their Jordanian counterparts. They need to know who is doing what and where, the airspace over Gaza is small.

Each country has its own drop zone, its own way of delivering aid. The whole operation is organised by the Jordanians but everything has to be signed off by the Israelis. If the IDF says no, then the planes do not take off.

The Turks were planning to join the coalition today but were vetoed at the last minute.

The aid is stacked in vast open hangars: piles of flour, sugar, rice, beans, pulses, oil, and water. The UK has its own corner where British servicemen and women – both from the RAF and the 47 Air Dispatch squadron of the Royal Logistics Corps – carefully pack their own pallets.

Everything is carefully weighed – each bundle cannot be too light or too heavy. Everything is packed deliberately to avoid damage on impact. Ropes and straps are measured precisely into place. Few gifts have been so carefully wrapped. The whole thing sits atop a thick slab of plywood.

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