Click to see full-size image. (The U.S. Central Command)
Five people were reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip on March 8 after being hit by aid packages dropped over the Palestinian enclave by countries including the United States.
Video footage circulating on social media purports to show the packages falling on people who were gathered to receive aid in Gaza City. The parachutes on some of the packages didn’t open, and on the rest the parachutes failed to deploy properly.
Palestinian media said that at least five people were killed when hit directly by the packages, while many more were wounded.
The U.S., in coordination with Jordan, Egypt and France, airdropped more than 70,000 meals into northern Gaza over the past week in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the siege imposed by Israel since the outbreak of the war in the Strip on October 7.
The siege led to widespread hunger in Gaza. Children, who make roughly half of the Strip’s population, are the most affected. More than a dozen have so far died of malnutrition or dehydration, according to the enclave’s health ministry which is run by the Hamas Movement.
In its latest situation report, dated March 1, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, said that an average of about 97 trucks a day had been entering Gaza in February, down from about 150 in January and well short of the 500-a-day target.
The U.S. decision to airdrop aid into Gaza was meant to cover up for its refusal to pressure Israel over the siege and the humanitarian crisis it is causing.
United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups blame the humanitarian crisis on Israel’s actions, including the closure of land crossings into northern Gaza, ongoing military operations and a complex system of Israeli checks of items bound for Gaza at the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings.
The deadly aid airdrop incident came just a day after the U.S. President Joe Biden announced his plan to establish a maritime corridor for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza directly from the Mediterranean Sea.
“Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” Biden said in his State of the Union address, stressing that there will be no “U.S. boots” on the ground in the Strip.
“This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day,” he added
Biden went on to say that “Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire.”
It’s worth noting that the U.S. has been providing Israel with unconditional military support since the outbreak of the war, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 30,878 Palestinians -mostly women and children- and left more than 72,402 others wounded, according to the latest update by the ministry of health in the Strip.
