12 People Have Died In Gaza After They Drowned Trying To Get Airdropped Aid That Fell In The Sea
This is the latest in a string of incidents involving deaths and injuries during airdropped aid deliveries gone wrong.
12 people have died in Gaza after they drowned trying to reach airdropped aid packages that had landed in the sea.
The incident happened on Tuesday, March 26 in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, according to a statement issued by Palestinian authorities.
Another six people were also killed on the same day when they were crushed in the crowd trying to reach aid.
Multiple videos circulating online showed hundreds of Palestinians running towards airdropped aid packages landing on the beach in Beit Lahia, with several people even venturing into the water and swimming to retrieve the parcels.
Videos showed that several of the cardboard aid boxes retrieved from the ocean had soaked through, contaminating the food inside.
Just four days earlier, another failed aid airdrop damaged houses in northern Gaza, and caused injuries.
This is the latest in a string of incidents involving deaths and injuries during airdropped aid deliveries gone wrong.
US officials said three of the 18 bundles of airdropped aid into Gaza on Monday had parachute malfunctions and fell into the water.
Earlier in March, a similar incident happened on March 8, when a parachute on an airdropped aid package failed to open during an air drop, killing five Palestinians and injuring at least 10 others.
Aid agencies say only about a fifth of required supplies are entering Gaza and that deliveries by air or sea are no substitute for increased supplies coming in by land via Israel or Egypt.
While the US, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have started airdropping aid in recent days, aid agencies have said that airdrops are an expensive and inefficient way of delivering food and medical supplies.
The UN has said that road routes are the only way to deliver large quantities of food.
In a tweet on March 6, the UN said that a week’s airdrops only delivered six tons of food into northern Gaza while there was 200 tons of food waiting in 14 trucks that were blocked by Israel from entering.
Gaza is facing imminent famine as Israel is still blocking aid from entering and shooting and killing Palestinians desperately waiting for food aid.
Some Palestinians in Gaza are even resorting to eating weeds and animal feed to break their fasts for the months of Ramadan.
Palestinian authorities said the US and Israel are responsible for starving and laying siege against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
It called for an end to the airdrop aid deliveries, which it described as “offensive, wrong, inappropriate, and useless”.
It also called for the immediate, rapid opening of land crossings to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians facing acute food shortages and imminent famine.
