Twelve Palestinian civilians have drowned in Gaza while trying to recover several humanitarian aid packages dropped from planes from the sea. The victims were part of a large group of people who followed the path of the parachutes and did not hesitate to enter the waters to get the supplies. The tragedy has provoked a protest from the authorities of the Strip, in the hands of Hamas, who have denounced how these types of launches have become a “real danger to the lives of hungry citizens.” In fact, six other civilians have died in the last twenty-four hours in the “stampedes” caused by crowds of residents trying to obtain supplies.
Containers falling out of designated landing zones has become increasingly common as air operations to deliver aid to Gaza residents have increased. Some of them fall into the sea, where they run the risk of sinking or moving away from the coast, but they are also the object of struggle by the hundreds of people awaiting the launches in a territory ravaged by famine, where even the most basic products and drinking water networks are destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to face this reality in the northern half of the Strip, where the United Nations and a large number of countries demand that Israel open entry corridors for humanitarian supplies.
The Gazan authorities have regretted that “during the last few hours, eighteen Palestinian civilians have been martyred due to the incorrect drop of aid dropped from planes.” The Palestinians include among them the twelve who drowned after dozens of desperate citizens jumped into the sea in search of the packages.
“We have warned all countries involved in aid launches of the danger of their incorrect procedures, since part of the aid is thrown into the sea, another part into the occupied Palestinian territories (by the Israeli army) and there is still more, which “It is thrown into dangerous areas,” explains the Hamas government, before describing the shipments as “wrong, inappropriate and useless.” The only viable aid, according to the authorities, consists of “the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to deliver humanitarian aid to the people.”
🚨BREAKING: 18 DEAD DUE TO FAILED AIRDROPS.
The Government Media Office in Gaza in a press statement:
“18 Palestinians have been killed so far by mishandled airdrops of aid, including 12 who drowned while trying to get aid from the sea and six due to stampedes.
We hold the… pic.twitter.com/VazVIoAQTb
— Suppressed Voice. (@SuppressedNws) March 26, 2024
Several countries such as Jordan, France, Egypt, the United States and, more recently, the United Kingdom, have been involved for just over a month in air operations that consist of supplying Gazans with food dropped from military cargo planes. This is an alternative to deliver supplies, especially to the 300,000 citizens who remain in the north of the Strip, where malnutrition is most pronounced and where more than twenty children have already died from hunger.
Earlier this month, five Palestinians were crushed to death and several dozen were injured when aid packages fell on them after their parachutes failed to open. Some humanitarian workers consider that many of these accidents occur due to “famine” itself, which pushes victims to act with “desperation” and take serious risks to avoid losing supplies that “can save their family.”
However, the most serious case occurred on February 29 when the Israeli army opened fire on a crowd gathered next to a supply convoy. In total there were 112 dead and 760 wounded, most of them crushed during the stampede that followed the shooting. The Defense Forces alleged that the military used weapons when they were “threatened” by hundreds of people, while Hamas pointed out that it was the soldiers who “indiscriminately” attacked civilians.
#Twelve #civilians #drown #recover #food #packages #thrown #sea #Gaza