Authorities in Gaza said Tuesday that several people drowned while trying to retrieve air-dropped aid that fell into the Mediterranean Sea. This is the latest incident wherein a drop apparently resulted in a death. They called for an end to airdrops over the territory and a rise in deliveries by land.
On Monday afternoon, people entered the water from a beach in northern Gaza to collect aid packages, according to Ahmed Abu Qamar, a Gaza-based researcher with EuroMed Rights, a human rights group, who said he had spoken to witnesses. According to him, a couple of dozen people drowned, including no less than one who became entangled in a parachute. Others were taken to a close-by hospital.
Gaza’s government media office issued an announcement on the drownings, but it surely was impossible to independently confirm the details.
The United Nations and other aid groups say trucks, not planes, are the most cost-effective, safest and only technique of delivering aid to Gaza, a territory whose greater than two million persons are facing a hunger crisis that humanitarian groups say is bordering on famine.
But several governments, including the United States, France, Jordan and Egypt, have used airdrops in recent weeks to complement aid arriving by land, while calling on Israel to allow more trucks to arrive.
Airdrops will not be without risk. Authorities in Gaza said earlier this month that no less than five Palestinians were killed and several other others injured when humanitarian aid fell on them in Gaza City.
It is unclear which country airdropped the aid that landed in the sea on Monday, but the U.S. military’s Central Command said it carried out the airdrop just after noon.
The United States “dropped more than 46,000 U.S. ready-to-eat meals into northern Gaza, an area of great need that allows civilians access to critical aid,” the statement said. “These airdrops are part of an ongoing effort and we continue to plan for additional deliveries by air.”
A Centcom spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday on reports of fatalities. Israeli officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on social media on Tuesday that his country did 10 tons were dropped aid for Gaza and thanked Jordan for its assistance. The post didn’t provide any details on when or where the drop occurred.
Governments say the declines are vital due to a pointy decline in aid flowing into Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel. The variety of trucks with assistance According to UN data, the number of individuals arriving in Gaza has since fallen by about 75 percent. The charity World Central Kitchen delivered an aid barge to Gaza earlier this month.
Governments and aid groups say Israel has slowed aid deliveries through strict inspections of trucks. Israeli authorities blame UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency supporting the Palestinians, arguing that Israel can inspect and process aid trucks faster than humanitarian groups can distribute aid to the territory.
Abu Bakr Bashir AND Adam Sella reporting contributed.
