Hamas has called for an end to aid airdrops into Gaza after it said 12 people drowned and six others were killed in stampedes trying to reach the food packages.
The deaths happened in the starving north of the besieged territory on Monday, with people rushing to collect packages dropped from planes along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
According to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, the airdrop ‘malfunctioned’ – which is thought to have led to the aid ending up in the sea and not on the beach.
Hamas said: ‘We call for an immediate end to airdrop operation and we demand the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach our Palestinian people.’
A Hamas statement said: ‘The aid airdrops pose a real threat to the lives of hungry Palestinians. This all put the lives of people in real danger.’
12 people have drowned and six were killed in stampedes trying to reach the food packages. Pictured: Palestinians wade out to sea to collect aidropped aid in northern Gaza Strip yesterday
Palestinians gather on a beach as they collect aid airdropped by an airplane yesterday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip
Palestinians gather on a beach as they collect aid airdropped by an airplane, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, March 25, 2024
The bombardment of Gaza by the IDF has seen a severe lack of aid reaching the area.
The desperation amongst starving Palestinians has led to them risking their lives to collect the food parcels that are arriving, but this is dangerous as they are being dropped from planes on the coast.
Airdrops need a large landing space for it to be as safe as possible
Humanitarian agencies advise that airdrops should ideally be large, open areas no smaller than a football field.
This is why deliveries have often been aimed at Gaza’s coastline.
However, this has sometimes resulted in aid falling into the sea or being carried by the wind into Israel, according to local accounts.
Aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies required to meet basic humanitarian needs have arrived in Gaza since October.
This picture taken from Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip shows a Royal Jordanian Air Force C-130 Hercules turboprop dropping aid
In the distance, today, an Israeli attack helicopter can be seen hovering above the territory
Aid parcels such as these in today’s delivery are supposed to fall onto land in an open space
The UN is warning of famine.
The aid entering the Gaza Strip by land is far below pre-war levels, at around 150 vehicles a day compared to at least 500 before the war, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
As of the beginning of March, The US had airdropped 36,000 meals into northern Gaza in co-ordination with Jordan.
This comes as The RAF has airdropped more than 10 tons of food into Gaza for the first time amid fears that 1.1million people face ‘imminent’ famine in a ‘catastrophic’ humanitarian crisis.
A Royal Air Force Airbus A400M dropped packages of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula along the territory’s northern coastline.
These deaths bring the Palestinian death toll up to 32,531 since the war broke out in October.