On Friday, a humanitarian airdrop in the northern part of the Palestinian territory resulted in five fatalities and left ten people injured, according to a medic at Gaza’s largest hospital .
The injured individuals were transported to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as reported by the emergency room’s head nurse, Mohammed al-Sheikh, in a statement to AFP.
According to Sheikh, the tragic airdrop incident took place north of the coastal Al-Shati refugee camp.
A camp witness, speaking to the news agency AFP, recounted how he and his brother trailed the parachuted aid, hoping to secure a bag of flour.
“Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn’t open and fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses,” said Mohammed al-Ghoul. “Ten minutes later I saw people transferring three martyrs and others injured, who were staying on the roof of the house where the aid packages fell,” the 50-year-old told AFP.
Amidst the ongoing conflict, both the United States and Jordan have conducted airdrops in northern Gaza. These airdrops aim to provide much-needed assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people grappling with dire conditions after more than five months of war.
According to a Jordanian military source, the kingdom was not implicated in Friday’s tragic airdrop.
The source clarified that the parachutes, which failed to open during the Gaza airdrop on Friday, were not due to any technical defect from a Jordanian aircraft.
“The four Jordanian aircraft that carried out the airdrop in partnership with five other countries carried out its mission without any glitches.”
Regarding the five fatalities on Friday, the government media office in Hamas-run Gaza asserted that airdrops were “futile” and “not the optimal method” for delivering aid.
The United Nations has emphasized that airdrops or a proposed maritime aid corridor cannot adequately replace land deliveries to Gaza. Instead, they urge for more trucks to be allowed to reach Gaza through additional border crossings.
The situation in Gaza remains critical, and ensuring access to essential supplies via land routes is crucial for the well-being of civilians in the region.
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